The Demon-Eyes Assassin
by nickz24
Summary: What happens when Itachi, who was supposed to die, ends up in another but more corrupt world ! After releasing the reanimation jutsu, he finds himself in the capital, encountering the rouge assassins, Night Raid, who want him to help with the revolution. The question now is, with what is being dealt to him, what will Itachi do! (I do not own these animes. Their creators do)
1. Chapter 1

**HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO everyone! I'm so sorry I have not uploaded in so long! College is a real pain in the ass! Anyways I was re-watching some awesome anime (as you can probably guess the 2 animes involved in this crossover). As I was watching them, I had a little brain child form and well I could not let my idea go unwritten: Itachi in the world of assassins! I tried to look up some fanfics with this idea in mind but there was only one and it wasn't finished so I HAD to get to work! Hope you like my story! I sadly don't own either of these anime. They belong to their respective creators who the world cannot thank enough for their work.  
**

**For reference:** this is regular speaking, " _this_ " is thought, _this_ is flashback

 **Chapter 1: Another Chance at Life**

It was done. Itachi Uchiha was able to get Kabuto to release the reanimation jutsu. Everything was finally going to end. All the suffering from the Fourth Great Shinobi War would finally come to an end.

Sasuke watched with shocked eyes as Itachi's Edo Tensei body began to glow, realizing he would now be seeing his brother for the final time. "I know what you want me to do, and how you want me to be… you're my big brother so I know you will disapprove. However, no matter what you say it is because you are my brother that no matter what you say, you're not going to stop me. I will seek to destroy the village! Even if you protect the village now, I will destroy it someday!"

Itachi slowly turned to Sasuke, his one eye completely white with blindness from the Izanami. He began to weakly walk towards his beloved little brother, extending his right arm. "There is… still time… I can feel myself slowly losing consciousness now"

Sasuke watched with bewildered eyes, wondering what Itachi was up to. Itachi looked up to Sasuke. "I must tell you everything, before I say goodbye… and we part for good. There is no need to hide the truth any longer. Everything that Danzo and Tobi said that I did… was the truth."

Sasuke looked in shock, hearing that Tobi was actually telling the truth. Itachi spoke up again, looking into Sasuke's eyes with his sharingan blaring. "I will show you, the entire truth." In a split second, Itachi's sharingan went into effect, showing Sasuke every memory of the events that lead to the massacre of the Uchiha clan by his hands, from Shisui's death, to the meeting with Danzo, the Third Hokage, and the other heads of the village. Sasuke saw the secret meeting where Itachi spoke to Danzo and was able to convince him to allow Itachi to spare his little brother since he really did not know anything. He watched as Itachi asked Madara for shelter in his organization, to the genjutsu he placed on Izumi before he killed her. Finally, he saw the moments of his parents passing as Itachi stood behind their parents.

" _I see, so you aligned with the other side, huh." Fugako Uchiha, Itachi and Sasuke's father, spoke up, not moving from his seat adjacent to their mother, Mikito Uchiha._

" _Father… mother…" Itachi spoke softly, obviously in a lot of pain. "I just..."_

" _We already know, Itachi." His mom spoke up._

" _Itachi, just promise me this…" his father spoke again, without an ounce of fear in his voice. "Take care of Sasuke…"_

 _Itachi's eyes began to water with emotion he never felt before. "I will…" he answered. His body began to shake violently as he grit his teeth as tear flowed from his eyes down his cheek and to the floor. The pain of the situation was a lot for a mere 13 year old boy to handle, whether he was ANBU captain or not._

" _Do not fear it. This is the path you have chosen." Fugako spoke, knowing these were his last words. "Compared to yours, our pain will be over in an instant. Our philosophies may differ, but I am still proud of you my son. You are truly a kind child…"_

 _A minute after those words were spoken, Itachi completed his mission, with his blade now stained by the blood of his parents._

Suddenly Sasuke and Itachi returned to reality, Itachi standing before him once again in his glowing Edo Tensei body. Itachi began to speak for the last time as he continued his path to his little brother. "There is… nothing more to say. You now know the whole truth, and I will not have to tell you it ever again. I… always lied to you… and asked you to forgive me for putting you at arm's length… so you would be kept out of this. Maybe, if I looked you straight in the eyes all those years ago, maybe you could have stopped mother… father… and the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke couldn't move or even speak at what was happening before him. The emotions were too much for him as well as for Itachi. "If only I had come to you sooner… looked straight into your eyes, and spoke the truth… then I wouldn't be standing here a failure." Itachi spoke, his breath drawing short. "But… I want to impart at least this truth to you…" He stopped, now standing before his brother, his right index and middle finger extended like they would be when he would flick Sasuke's head when they were kids. Before he could flick his head, Itachi reached for the back of Sasuke's head, drawing him forward a bit so that their foreheads met. Sasuke now looked his older brother in the eyes, knowing this was the last time he would see or even hear Itachi in this world. "You don't ever have to forgive me… and whatever you do from here on out know this… no matter what I will love you always."

As Itachi said those last words, a beam of light shot from his body, his soul now leaving its Edo Tensei host and rising to the sky. Itachi smiled as he looked down on his brother, trying to see him for his last time. " _Sasuke, being your brother has made me happy. I am honored to say that I was your older brother. I am sorry I was not the best brother but I am glad that you at least loved me… thank you Sasuke, for making me happy._ " With that final thought, Itachi's vision went white.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi thought he would finally be able to rest in peace, finally saving his village and saying goodbye to his brother. However, he did not expect what was to come next.

After a few minutes of light, he felt a bit of a breeze on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see he was in a forest, the leaves blowing and dancing in the wind, his vision being one hundred percent clear. " _Wait… this is not right… this is not the purgatory I was in when I was first dead…_ " He got up and looked around, trying to find where he was. He noticed there was no coffin nor a shinobi around, meaning he wasn't an Edo Tensei. " _This isn't right… THIS ISN'T RIGHT!_ "

He ran towards the sound of the nearby river, falling to his knees just before it he looked down and came to a scary realization. "This, this isn't possible." He starred at his on reflection looking into his eyes. They were not black on the outside like an Edo Tensei, but white as if he was alive. He felt his vital spots and felt a pulse. He didn't even feel the terminal illness that plagued him for his last years when he was alive. Itachi looked down and saw he was in his Akatsuki cloak and normal garments. All of his ninja tools were there as well.

Itachi looked down at the water and activated his sharingan. " _So I still have my jutsu and sharingan… wait…_ " He activated his mangekyo sharingan, however it was different. It still had the same look, however there was red in the middle of each of the wheels, and there was a black outline alone the edge of his iris. "So… I am alive. And I have the eternal mangekyo sharingan and am healthy. But how? How the hell is this possible?!"

Itachi decided instead of worrying about that now, he had to figure out where he was. He noticed to the west that there was a big city with a wall around it and made his way over to the town. There were people swarming all over the town, as expected. " _I have to stay hidden. If I am recognized, it will lead to only more trouble._ " He thought. He jumped to a rooftop and ran across the houses, trying to get a view and a sense of where he was. Itachi noticed some things: at first the place seemed similar to the Hidden Leaf Village in terms of layout. The townspeople closer to the center were wealthier and seemed to hold some power. However, he noticed that their clothes were different from his village. In addition there were armed soldiers walking around instead of ninja. " _This might be some place outside of the shinobi villages. I guess I am safe to walk around freely._ "

Itachi dropped down in an alleyway and began to walk amongst the people. As he ventured into the city past the market place, he noticed a few wanted posters. They each read: Wanted with a drawn photo of the person. The picture in the middle was picture of a girl with black hair, the bangs covering her eyes. Under it said "Dead or Alive. Akame. Night Raid" with her descriptions. Next to her on each side was the same kind of poster but for a woman named Najenda and a man by the name of Bulat, each describing the features of the wanted people. " _Seems this world has their issues as well. I assume they are trying to overthrow the government here._ "

He walked around the outskirts of the town. The people looked very poor and almost depressed at their living quarters. Itachi then saw some soldiers who were tailing a man,. They cornered him and began to beat him up, taking his money as they laughed in humor at their work. He noticed that the people around them got an even sadder look on their face. " _So, maybe the government is corrupt. The people are forced to live in fear if they do not have power. I will have to wait to see what else there is in store._ " He also noticed that the currency was far different from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, not that it mattered since he didn't even have his money on him.

Itachi walked out of the capital to the outskirts of the town, trying to find where to set up camp for the time being. He found a quiet spot on by the river near where he first woke up. He set up a camp fire and decided he had to hunt around. He hopped from tree to tree looking for anything to eat. As he was walking around he noticed something that glistened in the moonlight on the ground. " _A trap huh. Proabably to catch something here to eat._ " Itachi thought, cutting the wire to see what it did. However, not even his kunai could cut it no matter how hard he tried. Itachi decided it was a better idea to just leave it and continue for food.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lubbock, a green haired boy with his teigo, ran into the main corridor of the hideout where everyone was. "GUYS. SOMEONE TRIPPED ONE OF MY WIRES."

Najenda looked to Lubbock with a serious look. "How many?"

Lubbock looked back to his boss. "Only one from what I can tell."

Najenda nodded. "Ok, all of you will go out and dispatch the intruder. It is most likely an Imperial soldier so be careful and do not die. This will be good practice for Tatsumi, our new member. Akame, Lubbock, and Leone, stay by him."

The brown haired boy nodded as the black and blonde haired women nodded, walking next to Tatsumi along with Lubbock.

"Bulat will go in and fight him hand to hand if he must. Mine you try to snipe him first before we do anything with Sheele protecting you. Now go!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Mine stood on the edge of the cliff with her pumpkin in hand, spotting a man running around at about 500 meters away. "What a weird get up he is wearing. A cloak with red clouds on it, and those weird sandal-like shoes?" She said. "He could still be an imperial spy, so I will take this bastard out in one shot." She said pointing her teigo gun at him with a smirk of confidence.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi stood still for a minute not being able to find anything. " _It is almost as if there is nothing here… and my chakra is running low because of my lack of energy. If this continues…_ " As Itachi thought this he felt something in the air. " _I feel like I am being watched… this is not good._ " He took out a kunai and looked around trying to see who was there. Suddenly, his instincts were screaming for him to run, sensing imminent danger. Without a second of hesitation, he jumped, just narrowly being missed by what he would describe as an energy blast. " _What the hell was that?!_ " He thought, looking in the direction of where the attack came from. With his sharingan, he spotted a source of energy at the top of a cliff and began to sprint to the location, turning off his secret weapon.

XXXXXXXXXX

"WHA… how did he dodge it?!" Mine spoke with shock riddling her voice. She turned with her teigo in hand. "Sheele we have to g-"

As she turned around she spotted the man she was trying to shoot, now only a few inches away from her. "You almost had me girl," Itachi said, swinging his kunai down trying to strike at Mine.

At the last second Sheele appeared, blocking the kunai with her teigo: Extase. Itachi backed up and readied himself. "I see you are not alone. I give you props, most do not have the speed to stop me." " _I will only resort to using my taijutsu and some genjutsu. I do not want to hurt these people. Also, if I use any more than that there might be a commotion leading to reinforcements._ "

Mine stood there poised for the fight but scared beyond belief. "Sheele be careful!" yelled the pink haired sniper.

Sheele noded. "I will Mine." She turned to Itachi. "You will not hurt us, you bastard. We will kill you intruder!" With that she charged in at Itachi, swinging for his mid-section. Itachi went to block with his kunai when he suddenly felt another presence behind him. He ducked out of the way of Sheele's attack, just noticing a suit of armor appear out of nowhere, swinging down on him with a huge spear. Itachi rolled out of the way and ran into an opening. "So it seems there are more of you." He called out to Sheele and the suit or armor that trailed him. The suit of armor charged at him, swing the spear violently trying to slice Itachi to ribbons. " _He is fast! Especially for the armor._ " He thought. Just as Itachi as going to use his kunai to block, Sheele came in with her scissor blade open. Itachi dodged the armor's attack, throwing a kunai at Sheele. To his surprise, she cut it in half. Just as he was landing from his leap, he noticed the same string from before just where he was about to land. He swung his body to create more momentum to go over the string, using a ninja star to trigger the trap. The string came to life slicing the ninja star to pieces.

Itachi landed a few feet away from the assailants, looking at them with interested looks. "So, you all have interesting weapons I see."

Lubbock now came out and stood next to the other assailants. This was when Itachi noticed his gloves with the string coming from them. "You can say that again. Look at yourself using those weapons."

Itachi stood calm, not letting the four vs one situation affect him. "As interesting as these weapons are, you all looked into my eyes, and that is your mistake." Itachi activated a genjutsu that caused his enemies to be paralyzed. "Ach! We can't move!" Shouted the suit of armor. "How is that possible?"

Itachi eased up a bit. "It is from my illusion. I have it so your body thinks it is in trouble and that its reaction was to freeze up. This is over."

"NOT BY A LONG SHOT!" said a voice from Itachi's left. He turned and spotted a blond woman with animal like claws and animal ears charging at him. He jumped out of the way as her fist collided with the ground, creating a huge crater. " _So she has increased strength and sp-_ " as he was finishing his thought Itachi noticed a shadow above him. He turned and got out a kunai just in time to block Akame's attack. Akame began to lower her blade to Itachi's hand, making Itachi's sensors scream to push her away, which he did. " _There is something about her blade… I can't allow it to touch me!_ "

As this was happening Tatsumi ran to his trapped friends. "Are you guys ok?!"

The suit of armor turned to Tatsumi. "DO NOT COME CLOSER. This guy is dangerous! He has us four trapped. With your inexperience you will die!"

Tatsumi looked shocked at his new friends. "But… Bulat…"

"NO BUTS!" The armor now named Bulat spoke. "Let Akame and Leone handle this." He said as they turned to watch their two comrades fight.

" _This guy is doing really well considering he is fighting me and Akame here._ " Leone thought as she swung fist after fist at Itachi, trying to hit him. Itachi used his reflexes to dodge Leone's attack while using a kunai to fend off Akame's attacks.

Itachi was now starting to worry, he was actually being pushed to his limits. " _I cannot keep this up for long. I don't want to resort to the sharingan for fear of its effects in this world, and if I use my ninjutsu, more will just come. And I cannot cast another genjutsu due to the lack of chakra I have right now!"_ As the thoughts were running through his head Leone finally landed a shot on a distracted Itachi, sending him into a mountain wall. His body was engraved on the wall, making him stuck. " _Can't… move.._." he paniced.

As this happened, Bulat, Mine, Lubbock, and Sheele were freed from the genjutsu, now moving to Akame and Leone with Tatsumi behind them. They finally got to the scene and saw the intruder embedded into the wall. "Yea we got him!" Tatsumi said, drawing his sword.

Bulat still wearing his teigo (Incersio) extended a hand to block Tatsumi. "Wait." He said as he approached Itachi. "Before we kill you I have a question for you. Why did you not kill us when we were paralyzed? With the speed and strength you showed in fighting those two, you could have got us before they showed up instead of explaining what you did. Why?"

Itachi looked to Bulat but did not give him an answer. Deep down Itachi did not want to kill anyone. He was somehow alive again and put it upon himself to try to not kill ever again. The fighters that were before him looked as if they just reached adulthood. Itachi could not handle it if he did kill them in his first moments of breath. He bowed his head, realizing that the situation was hopeless, and all thanks to his morals.

Lubbock shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Now this imperial spy can die instead of him killing us."

Itachi looked to Lubbock now realizing the situation. " _This was a rebel group against the capital I observed._ " He thought. " _They I guess saw the oppression and decided to do something about it. I do not blame them however…_ " Itachi's eyes lit up. " _Wait, they are attacking me because they think I am a spy! I know I am not but maybe if I can convince them I am not then I can get out of this!_ "

Akame drew her blade and pointed it to Itachi, still embedded in the rock. "Eliminate." She said coldly and charged at Itachi.

Itachi finally looked up to the assailants. "WAIT." He finally spoke up.

In a split second, Akame stopped her attack, Murasame just being stopped in time from puncturing his neck, the tip of the blade barely touching Itachi but not scratching him. "What is it?" She calmly said. "Speak your last words now."

Itachi took a breath of relief, he was still alive and didn't have to use his sharingan. "You said I was an imperial spy that was supposed to kill you. However, I am not from the capital or anywhere around here at all."

Mine glared to Itachi, Akame still holding Itachi at swordpoint. "What do you mean?! How are you not from the capital?! That is the only way you could have found us here you dumbass!"

Itachi looked to the pink hiared sniper. "It was all an accident. I assume that the string I was trying to cut belonged to the green haired boy here. I was hunting and -"

Leone growled at Itachi. "How are we supposed to believe you huh? How do we know you are not lying."

Itachi took a deep breath to calm himself and looked to Leone. "The soldiers in the town carried a badge with them. In addition they have swords as weapons and move a bit sluggishly. As you see, I move a lot faster than them, nor do I have a sword. As for the badge that all soldiers I assume have to carry, you can search my person for them. However you will not find them."

Akame nodded to Sheele who took Itachi out of the wall and took his cloak off. Itachi was kept at sword point by Akame to assure that he was not planning on escaping. However Itachi did not move and let Sheel take his cloak and pouch. They found his kunai, ninja stars, scrolls and ink, and an odd headband in his bag. Like Itachi said, there was no badge. Tatsumi saw the headband and held it up, looking at the weird logo. "Hey you," he called to Itachi.

Itachi looked to the item Tatsumi was holding. He did all he could and was barely able to hide his shock. " _My headband… without the scratch?!_ " He snapped out of his thought and looked to Tatsumi. "That is something that is given to people of my village. It is on the outskirts of the town called the Village Hidden in the Leaves." He said. The only part he lied about was the location, for Itachi had NO IDEA where on God's green earth he was.

After being inspected by the group, they nodded. Lubbock walked behind Itachi, tying his arms up as Akame took her tie off to blindfold Itachi. "You will come with us then. We cannot let you leave. We will take you to our boss." He heard Sheele say. All Itachi could do was nod and let them take him wherever they were going.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi heard about seven voices in the new room he was in, Akame still holding Murasame to his neck as he was forced to go on his knees. He tried to get a glimpse of where he was but could not see past the blindfold.

"Get the blindfold off him, he might be our "prisoner" but he is not a threat, at least let him see." Said a woman's voice.

A few seconds later Itachi was able to see, now observing the meeting room he was in. He looked around at all the faces, recognizing them from the attack. However, his eyes wondered to the silver haired woman in the chair. " _I recognize her from somewhere… but where…_ " He thought. Suddenly it all came together. The woman before her was the one in the poster: Najenda. Itachi looked to the girl holding the sword and realized that was Akame. He continued to look around and noticed the lack of the suit of armor. Instead he recognized the well-built man as Bulat, however with different hair. " _So, this was Night Raid's hideout, and they thought I was with the empire._ " Itachi chuckled to himself at the realization.

Najenda walked up to Itachi and looked down at him. "So, you say you are not part of the empire as a spy but accidentally got caught up in this while hunting. After going through your stuff and your claims, it seems that you are telling the truth. However we do not trust you fully still. So you will be held here. Is that understood?"

Itachi looked her in the eyes and nodded. She smiled. "Good, there will not be any trouble."

Itachi nodded. "So, this is Night Raid. I only recognize you, the girl with the blade to my neck, and the man over there. I have a question for you. What is the purpose of this group, and why would you be wanted in the 'capital'?"

This lead to a long talk from Najenda and the other members of Night Raid (minus Tatsumi) all about their group, the revolutionary army, and the corrupt capital. Itachi being the ninja he is would normally check out this info for himself. After what he saw while in the capital though, he believed every word she spoke. " _So they are like the ANBU, however they work against the government. I see._ " Itachi thought.

Najenda looked to Itachi, picking up a piece of paper. "So, stranger, show us where this "Village Hidden in the Leaves is?" She said as she unrolled the map.

Itachi fought every being in him from screaming in anger and confusion. As his eyes scanned the map finding no evidence of the 5 Shinobi Nations, he realized that he was in a totally different world all together. However, Itachi kept his emotions in checked and looked to Najenda. "As I said, it is a Village that is Hidden. It would not be on the map."

Najenda glared to Itachi and nodded to Lubbock who undid his string, letting Itachi free meanwhile Akame kept Murasame at his neck. "Very well. Let me explain the situation now. You are going to be stuck here at our base. You have seen and know too much now to be let free. There are three options for you. Option One is you stay here in our prison cells until we complete our mission. The Second Option is that you work in our factories supervised without your belongings until we complete our mission. The Third Option is one I will stress you take. As much as I don't fully trust you yet, you were able to fight off ALL of Night Raid, meaning you are an incredible warrior. With that being said, the Third Option is for you to accept my invitation to Night Raid and help us, using everything you have. I am not sure if you have ever killed or have the capabilities to kill, but I know you will be a great asset to the revolution. So," Najenda stuck out her left hand, keeping her robotic right one to her side. "What do you say?"

Itachi took a minute to look over the options, looking down at the gound. He wanted to help this land obtain peace. As much as he did not want to get involved in more killings, it seems that it was the only way to ever reach the state of peace. Itachi looked to Najenda and nodded, taking her hand in his. "I will join your group."

Najenda smirked while the others minus Akame and Leone looked in shock. "Welcome to Night Raid… uh…"

Itachi was about to speak when he stopped himself. _"No, I will not give my last name. The Uchiha name brings pain and despair wherever it goes, thus explaining the Fourth Great Shinobi War… As much I don't want to demoralize my clan, I will not bring that pain from my world to thiers!_ "

Itachi looked around at the others, taking in what his new team would be. He smiled and turned to their leader. "My name is Itachi."

 **And there you have it! My first chapter to this story! This was much longer than I thought it would be… OH WELL! Please review and thanks for the read.**


	2. Chapter 2

**HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO everyone! I already got a decent amount of favorites and follows on this story and only released one darn chapter! I seriously cannot thank you guys enough. I was really doubting if it was a good idea to post it but I am glad I did. So since I had some time I figured why not try to post the second chapter early? So here it is!**

 **Chapter 2: Test of Worth**

Itachi spent the next few hours accommodating with his new surroundings. He walked around the hideout with a bit of rice to settle his stomach and replenish his chakra. He began to get acquainted with where things were, gaining some knowledge about the facility as well and finding almost every secret passageway that he came across without any help, noting how he could escape if he wanted to. Though, despite nearly being killed by this "Night Raid" assassin group, he felt a bit at ease. Itachi understood it was a misunderstanding and that they were just doing what they had to do to protect themselves. As long as he felt they were not threatening his life, he would help them out in any way he could. However, if they changed their course of action for the worse or threatened his life and or others intentionally, he would do what he must.

After he finally packed all of the things in his room, he set up traps that only he would be able to deactivate without harm. He did not like the idea of strangers just appearing into his room. It was one of his quirks that he always had, especially when he was with the Akatsuki. He sat on his bed staring out the window that overlooked some of the nearby surrounding. " _So, I am in a different world, and now am part of yet another rouge group… what an interesting turn of events._ " He thought to himself with a smirk, interested in what this new place had in store for him. As he was about to lay down to get some well needed rest, someone knocked on his already open door. "Hey looks like I got the cute newbie closest to me!" Said the blonde haired girl in front of him. Itachi sighed, feeling like it was the academy all over again with fan girls all over him. "The boss wants us in the meeting room now, come on!"

He nonchalantly got up and followed her down the hall. She turned to him and smiled after a bit of walking. "By the way, my name is Leone. It is nice to meet you Itachi. I hope there will be no hard feelings between us, even though I slugged you into that wall before."

He nodded. "Yea, sure." He looked out the windows they passed by, still trying to absorb the situation he was in. He began to get lost in thought when he suddenly felt Leone grab his arm. "Sooooooooo cutie, you like it here?" She purred, rubbing her cheek on his with his arm that she latched to between her chests, a smirk across her lips.

Itachi looked at her with an awkward, panicking expression, wanting to do everything in his power to make her let go. "It is a decent place I guess." He replied, trying to free his arm. " _This girl is WAY too personal. She might be the one I avoid the most here to keep my sanity intact._ "

As he thought this they finally got into the meeting room, welcomed by Tatsumi and Mine yelling into each other's ears, accompanied by Sheele tripped over herself. He also noticed that Lubback was staring at him and Leone, who was still latched to his arm, with a jealous angry look, Akame who seemed to be obsessively clean her sword, Bulat who was standing to the side giving him an awkward wink that sent a shiver up his body, and Najenda in her usual chair. " _Is there anyone normal here…_?" Itachi thought.

After a minute Najenda got their attention. "Today's target is an imperial tax collector. We gained enough evidence that he takes more money than the tax amount itself and saves the left over cash for himself to pay off officials and purchase weaponry. We plan on taking him out and returning the money to the people of the area he is in charge of. This man is no ordinary tax collector though. He was once a respected soldier in the Imperial Army so consider him dangerous and deadly." She turned towards Itachi's direction. "Since last mission I sent out Tatsumi to test himself against General Ogre, Itachi I will have you go out to do the job along with Leone and Bulat to see if you require any training. It would give us some idea on your abilities as an assassin and the powers of your teigo."

Itachi looked to Najenda as she mentioned the teigo. "About that, I do not have one of those 'teigo' you speak of nor do I know what they even are. Can you please inform me as to what those are?"

This earned some looks from the group, minus Tatsumi. Mine immediately laughed at Itachi's lack of knowledge on the subject. "This idiot doesn't even know what they are yet he fought against some. I knew accepting him was stupid."

Itachi sent a glare to Mine that sent shivers of fear up and down her spine. Tatsumi looked in shock and jealousy of the new member, wishing he could do that to shut her up every time she began to nag him. Najenda smiled and laughed a bit. "You really aren't from around here. Let me explain them then. There are 48 teigo, or Imperial Arms, in existence. The first emperor of the empire created them to protect his country. They all vary in abilities from suits of armor to creating ice from thin air. After a war a few centuries ago, they scattered all over the empire, which is how some of us got ours. While we are at it, why don't we all introduce ourselves and tell him about our teigo, for those that have them."

Leone was the first one to step up. "Well the cutie here already knows my name." She said, looking to Itachi and sending him a wink, causing Itachi to shiver. "As for my teigo, it is called Lionelle." She pointed to her belt that she wore with her a bit too revealing clothes. "This baby enhances my speed, reflexes, strength, and regeneration, as well as giving me animal-like characteristics. This belt even gives me a sixth sense so to speak. It is great for beating the shit out of the empire trash over and over again, and stealth attacks as well." She smiled with pride as she said the last part.

The next to step up was Bulat. "Hey there, my name is Bulat. I used to be an officer in the Imperial Army before I realized how cruel they were. And now I'm here. As for my teigo, I have the suit of armor known as Incursio, which not only buffs my defenses but allows me to turn invisible for a bit. That is how I was able to sneak up on you when we all fought. I have to say I was impressed that you realized I was there. Anyways, it takes a lot of strength to even use it, so that is why I am as strong as I am."

Lubbock walked forward next. "Well, my name is Lubbock. My teigo is called Infinite Uses: Cross Tail. As you saw, it is string that is strong as steal. I am the one that usually sets up the traps like the one you almost sprung before the fight. In addition I can use them in close combat, as an armor when I wrap myself with them, and even use it to play dead, making it stop my pulse but keep me alive."

Minus the conclusion he got of Lubbock (which was that he is a pervert from the occasional glances at some of the girls he gave that Itachi noticed), he truly liked him. His cleverness with his string reminded him of how he used the wire string to change the trajectory of his kunai. "So, you are the tactician of the group, planning out your and the enemy's steps before they even make it, which is how you were able to nearly cut me up with that string when I fought Bulat and the girl with the scissors. That is quite impressive."

Lubbock smirked, giving his ego a bit of a boost. Before he could even thank him, Mine shoved him to the side. "Before pervert here gets too full of himself, I will introduce myself. My name is Mine, and my weapon," she took hold of her gun, "Is called pumpkin. It allows me to take my spirit energy and fires it either in a sniper, machine gun, or shotgun style. The more danger I am in, the stronger my pumpkin becomes."

Itachi only looked at Mine without an ounce of emotion. " _She really is annoying. Even her face gives off her self-centered personality. Though she seems like a semi-decent person… I think._ " Sheele then shyly stepped up. "Hey there. My name is Sheele, it is a pleasure to meet you Itachi. My teigo is called Cutter of Creation: Extase. These scissor blades are known to be able to cut anything, hence why I cut your knife like thing before. I do apologize for everything and hope we can move on from that. You seem like a decent guy and I am glad you are on our team." She smiled genuinely as she spoke.

"Yea, that is ok." Itachi replied. "I understand the situation fully. If I was in your shoes, I probably would have done the same thing."

Sheele smiled back at him and stepped back, nudging Tatsumi up. "Uh, hi. I'm Tatsumi. I am the n- I mean second newest member here so I do not have a teigo yet. Though I hope to get one and not be a burden to anyone here. I want to help here so that my village does not get in a worse situation than it already is." Tatsumi immediately stepped back after he finished.

This boy was an interesting one to Itachi. " _His eyes… there is way too much innocence in his eyes. He has not killed much which is usually a characteristic that would keep him out of things like this. He must have been semi-forced into this group. Probably by Leone's doing knowing her. However he has a kind and caring heart from the way he holds himself up. I just hope that does not get him killed._ "

The next person to step up was Akame, the most interesting of the group in Itachi's eyes. When Itachi first saw her, she thought her red eyes were the sharingan, only to realize that they were just naturally red. With that said, she fought like she has been killing her whole life, not letting her emotion show at all on the battlefield. That on top of her speed, stamina, stealth, and strength, would have made her an excellent shinobi in Itachi's eyes. Especially since, from what he could tell, she did not enhance herself in any way, yet was able to keep in stride with him, whether he was weakened or not. "Hello there Itachi. My name is Akame, and my teigo is called Murasame. I am known as the one cut killer because of my sword. With it, all it takes is one cut to kill someone. Even if I give you a cut the size of a hair strand on your finger, the blade sends a cursed poison through your body, killing you in seconds."

Itachi's eyes widened a bit. He got a sudden flashback of the fight, where he stopped Akame from stabbing him just in time, barely feeling the touch of her blade on his neck, and when he was held at sword point by her when he was first brought here, realizing how close he was to dying AGAIN. "I see, so the blade is poisoned with a powerful toxin. And to think I almost got scratched by that." Itachi spoke calmly as if it was no big deal.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT IT?!" Tatsumi yelled in shock and annoyance, since he was also almost killed by her blade and nearly fainted from panic when he found out what it did. Before he could continue, Najenda held out her right arm to stop Tatsumi from speaking any more, standing herself up. "As you already know, my name is Najenda. I was once a general in the Imperial Army until I realized how corrupt the empire truly was. That was when I fled and formed Night Raid to help the revolutionary army take down the tyranny that is the government in place now. As for a teigo, I do not have one either. I have not needed one yet but if I find one for myself then so be it." She sat down in her chair with her head being held in her left hand. "Now that you know about us, I think it is fair that we should know about you, don't you think Itachi?"

Everyone's eyes now glued to the Uchiha prodigy. " _She brings up a point… but what do I tell them? It would be a bad idea to let them know everything. That will just lead to more questions. I will leave out my sharingan and its abilities, but the rest should be ok. Considering they already know I am an outsider I can get away with some things._ " Itachi nodded to Najenda.

"Well my abilities are different from these teigo you guys possess. I do not own one as you can probably guess. I have my weapons that you saw when you inspected my stuff which I have advanced proficiency with. On top of that, I have a unique ability that very few people have from my village. I can use my energy, or chakra as we call it, to perform jutsu. The type of jutsu I used to freeze Bulat, Sheele, Lubbock, and Mine is called genjutsu. This is where I create an illusion that disrupts the senses of my opponents which I can take advantage of. Some genjutsu are so powerful that they can even warp one's reality to whatever the caster wants, making everything feel real, from a drop of water hitting them to their arm being ripped apart. The other jutsu I possess is called ninjutsu. This is where I can use my chakra and use it to either create or use my surroundings to my advantage. There are 5 elements that can be used, each with sub-elements under them. The 5 elements are water, fire, earth, lightning, and wind. There are few that could use more than one, and even fewer that can use all. I am able to use fire, water, and wind -"

Mine finally had enough and spoke up. "Ok there is NO WAY you can use or create fire and water! There is no way!"

Tatsumi turned to Mine. "Hey can it would ya? It might be farfetched but at least let the guy t-"

Itachi smirked. "If you do not believe me, then let me show you." This earned him a few looks of interest, including from Najenda. "To perform ninjutsu, for those that even can, one must perform hand signs. Different hand signs will make different jutsu. I will do this one slow so you can see." Itachi moved his hands out in front of him a bit so everyone could see and watch him to see what he was going to do. Itachi then began to make the hand signs. "Horse, tiger, serpent, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger…" he spoke as he weaved the hand signs. Then, he took a breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" With that he exhaled, bring forth a fireball that burned throughout the room. Itachi kept it small as to not burn the whole place down. When the fire was finally out, he looked at the room.

Every single person, including Akame, were all starring in shock and awe. Itachi smiled, not realizing how fun it could be to show people who did not know jutsu what it was. "After years of training this, you can even weave signs so fast the human eye cannot detect it. For example…" Itachi turned to Mine quickly. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Suddenly a burst of water in the form of a small dragon came forth from the open window next to Mine, hitting her dead on and completely drenching her. The look on her face was one of pure anger, though it did not stop most of the room from laughing their asses off at their newly soaked comrade. Itachi smirked at his work. "As you saw, you did not even see me weave any hand signs however the signs I wove in the mere millisecond that you didn't see were," Itachi held out his hands and preformed the signs again but slower, "Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Bird, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Ox, Sheep, Snake, Pig, Sheep, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Ox, Horse, Sheep, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Rat, Boar, Monkey, Dragon, Bird, Ox, Horse, Sheep, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Monkey, Rabbit, Boar, Dragon, Ox, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Rat, Boar, Bird."

Just from that alone, most of the rooms heads were spinning, totally confused at how Itachi could weave that many hand signs that fast. Itachi turned to Mine with a smirk. "Also, Mine, that is what you get for belittling me and doubting my credentials. Next time, hold back your comments until after you get to know a person. It can save you a lot of grief in the future."

Najenda looked truly impressed with her new acquisition. "I have to say, you truly are unique. I assume that with the training of your jutsu came the training of your body. I am very glad that I have you on our side, though I have one question," with this her smile turned to a serious look. "Have you ever killed anyone before?"

Itachi hid is confliction that he was feeling deep down. " _I cannot let her know of my past, I would be killed immediately. But I cannot say I haven't and then look suspicious, especially after our first encounter…_ " Itachi finally came up with an answer to the question in the second that passed by. "I only killed a few times in my life, all to protect myself and my friends."

Najenda nodded. "I understand. Remember though from here on out you will be killing on purpose, so I expect no hesitation when you go to make the final blow. With that being said, if you have any requests please feel free to speak up."

Itachi looked to Najenda, with two ideas coming to mind. "You said you have a factory here. I would like to be able to have access to it so I can create more of my weapons so I do not run out. I can even maybe give them to some of us here. In addition, if it is ok with Lubbock, I would like to have some of his string so I can use them for advanced shuriken use."

Lubbock nodded to Najenda, who in turn looked back to the Uchiha. "Very well, that is ok by me. Now go get ready for your mission, you leave in about 20 minutes." With that, Itachi, Leone, and Bulat left to prepare for their task.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Jeez this place is filled with guards!" Leone said with a hint of excitement as she cracked her knuckles.

Itachi looked around the compound that they were in looking for their target. "This seems like it will be more annoying than I thought." He sighed. He did not like the fact that he had to kill the target, but possibly having to kill others made the situation worse.

Bulat put a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Don't worry my darling, we will be fine. I will protect you." He said with an odd charm behind it.

Itachi nodded to be polite. As Bulat left to scout around he turned to Leone with a bothered look. "Why was he like that all of a sudden?"

Leone giggled. "Don't you know he is gay? He might have the hots for you."

With this statement Itachi's mouth dropped, making Leone laugh hard. "What's wrong? Don't like gays?"

Itachi blushed at her statement and for the first time in a long time made his panic known. "NO NO it's not that! N-not saying that he would not be a bad guy but that he is not my type - not that I have a type of boy because I am not into boys!"

Leone would have been laughing her ass off if it wasn't for her and Itachi hearing voices coming closer. They both jumped into the dark alleyway below and watched as a few guards passed by them. Itachi looked out to the clearing and noticed a house was being heavily guarded and had most of its lights on. "That must be where he is. We should sneak in through the opening on the roof up top."

Leone nodded and led the way to the top. They peered in and watched as a meeting was taking place. In the room were a few men in more expensive clothing talking to a bulky man in a big chair. "So that's the douche bag huh?" Leone said with a growl.

Itachi took notice of each of the guard's locations in the room and outside. He also noticed that, by sensing out his chakra/energy, Bulat was already in the room, invisible with his Incursio, hiding in a closet that was within the room. Itachi took out a few smoke bombs and looked to Leone who knew what he had planned. In that instant he threw the smoke bombs, each exploding and blanketing the room with a thick smoke. Leone and Bulat took their chance to kill off some of the guards in the room as Itachi searched for the target, noting that the ajar window must have been his escape.

Itachi also jumped out the window and chased after the man, cornering him in an alleyway. The man smirked at his adversary. "Well seems Night Raid wants my head on a silver platter? Well, we will see if that happens." He pressed something on his chest, creating an invisible barrier around him that Itachi barely noticed. "With my teigo, Blind Shield, there is no way you can kill me… so JUST GO AND DIE!" The tax collector charged at Itachi, fists balled and ready to pummel his opponent.

Itachi jumped out of the way, throwing some kunai at the man, only to watch as they all got deflected. The man laughed in amusement. "Like I said, dumbass, you cannot get through this shield!" He jumped at a speed faster than Itachi thought he could move, just barely dodging his fist. Itachi was being more defensive, dodging and weaving from his attacks. He went to kick the shielded enemy, only to be pushed himself. He flew for a bit in the air, turning his head to his opponent. "Fire Style: Great Fireball!" Itachi sent a ball of fire toward the tax collector, who was now wearing a semi-scared look on his face. The attack connected, creating a smoke screen that blocked Itachi's vision.

After a few seconds, he heard a noise from the side, noticing that Leone and Bulat caught up to them and began to fight the tax collector as well. " _There has to be a way around that barrier. Everything has a weakness_ " Itachi thought through many different options as the fight went on. Itachi chased after the target, firing off more fire balls and kunai, all to no avail. The tax collector laughed. "I have to say, a fire teigo is truly interesting. However that still will not be enough to beat me!" He said as he hit Itachi, pushing him a decent distance away.

Itachi was a tad slow to get up but he continued back to the fight. This was the moment when Itachi finally noticed something about his kunai that were embedded in the ground around his adversary. " _When he steps over the kunai, they go within the shield, meaning there is a way in from the ground. Now the trick is how to get there._ "

Leone and Bulat were starting to get tired from constantly beating on the shield, only to see they did not even scratch the tax collector. "You idiot assassins," he said and punched Bulat away from the fight. "There is no way you can beat me with shitty attacks like that." He proceeded to slug Leone in the gut, sending her into a wall. Leone yelped in pain from the impact, falling to the ground. The tax collector slowly walked up to his pray, pulling out a sword from his side. "Now, this is where the little bitch says GOODNIGHT!" He swung down ready to end Leone's life. She looked up just in time to notice Itachi standing before her, with the blade through his left shoulder. Leone looked at the scene in absolute horror. "No… ITACHI!"

The man laughed even harder. "What a fucking fool! Trying to act like the hero, he deserved to -" at this moment the figure that was Itachi immediately fell, turning into a puddle of water, making the tax collector's face go from smug and triumphant to rage. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Suddenly Itachi popped out of the ground and in the barrier, appearing right behind his target, kunai in hand. "Your arrogance was your downfall." He said, swinging his kunai down, just barely missing any vital spots but cutting off where his teigo was attached to him. The man fell to the ground, screaming in pain and agony as he bled onto the floor.

Leone finally snapped out of her daze, realizing what just occurred. She smiled in relief that Itachi was okay. Itachi helped her up as Bulat approached them, his wounds now showing. "Nice going Itachi! Sorry I was late, when he sent me flying I ran into a few guards." Bulat spoke up. "But I am glad you are ok. I saw what you did there, very impressive."

The tax collector turned to look at his opponents, now realizing his shield was gone. "How, how did you get to me?!"

Itachi looked to the man, keeping a calm composure. "I noticed that when you stepped over my kunai, they went into your shield. This meant that the ground under you was not being protected by your shield. All I had to do was wait for the right moment. I saw you were about to kill my partner, so I ran in front of her and made a water clone that would take the blow, biding me time to dig under you and come up right next to you, letting me disarm your teigo. Everything has a weakness, and it was a matter of time before I found yours."

The tax collector growled in rage. "What kind of witchcraft is that?! Fire and water teigo?"

Leone butted in the conversation. "Itachi, that was good, but you didn't kill him yet. You missed his vital spots. You have to be the one to kill him to complete the mission."

Itachi looked hesitantly at Leone and nodded. " _Well, part of my strategy worked. If I killed him right then and there, it would not have fit with my statement from before… I was hoping that I would get away without killing, but I see I have no choice._ " Itachi bent down to the tax collector, and with a swift stab to his neck with the kunai, the target was eliminated.

Bulat nodded to Itachi as he picked up the teigo their enemy was using. "You did well. Come on, let's go back to the base and assess any injuries we received."

XXXXXXXXXX

Akame, Najenda, and Mine were the only ones in the meeting room when Itachi, Leone, and Bulat arrived. "So, I see the mission was a success." Najenda began. "Leone, Bulat, how did Itachi do."

Bulat stepped forward. "He did very well in my opinion. He showed that he is more strategic and more aware of his surroundings than most of us are. He was able to outsmart the man even when the situation seemed hopeless, keeping his calm and not giving up."

Leone then stepped up as well. "Yea, he even risked his life to save my own. I now can say I trust him enough, not that I didn't trust him before. My only complaint is that he missed his vital points when he first got the chance to kill that bastard, but other than that he did great!"

Mine sighed. "He did not kill on the first strike? I thought we were assassins not stupid soldiers." It was quite obvious that she was still mad at him for his trick earlier.

Itachi paid no attention to her. What got his attention was the look Akame gave him. Her eyes and body giving a cold vibe with a hint of mistrust. " _She really does not like me at all, does she?_ " He thought.

Najenda nodded. "Mine, take Bulat and go to the infirmary. His injuries seem pretty bad. Leone and Itachi stay here for a second."

With that Bulat left the room, leaving the others. Leone walked up to Najenda's side and looked to Itachi. "So Itachi, you did very well. I can say I almost trust you. Did you suffer any injuries?"

Itachi looked to Najenda in confusion. "No, no I didn't."

Najenda looked to Itachi, and then quickly to Akame. Before Itachi could react, Akame ripped off his cloak and shirt. "Wha, what the hell are you doing?!" He said, getting annoyed at the situation.

Akame ignored his comments. "Leone, get his legs." She said calmly. Leone without any hesitation grabbed his legs, allowing Akame to pull his pants down, leaving Itachi in nothing but his underwear. All of the girls in the room, except for Akame, were now madly blushing, just now taking in Itachi's physique. Though no one had a redder face than Itachi, since he was never this close to being naked in front of a girl before, let alone 3. Itachi watched with a face redder than the sharingan as Akame, still with her cold and calm expression, walked around his body, inspecting it for some strange reason. After a minute she looked Itachi in the eyes. "You were telling the truth. You were not injured."

Itachi was about ready to yell at Akame for her actions when he noticed something. For the first time, Itachi saw emotions in the one cut killer. A slight blush along with a soft smile appeared on her face. "I was worried that you were lying about you injury. I have seen people die because a wound of theirs got infected and they did not tell anyone. I want to apologize for being a bit cold to you. I hope we can move on and be friends." She extended her hand, looking into the Uchiha's eyes.

Itachi starred at Akame with some confusion, later turning into respect and even admiration. He knew he could treat himself if he was hurt and the wound got infected. The fact someone else that barely knew him was willing to go to such lengths just to see if he was ok made him happy. It showed him that even in this world there are people that are truly caring, even if they were assassins. Itachi smiled at Akame and took hold of her hand in his. "I understand, and I would like to be friends too."

Najenda smiled at the two of them finally being friendly. "Now I can say that I trust you. I am glad you are officially part of Night Raid, Itachi."

Itachi looked to Najenda. "I agree, however…" Itachi's blush returned as he looked down, his bangs covering his eyes. "… can I PLEASE have my clothes back?"

 **End of Chapter 2! Finally Akame accepts Itachi! Please review and give any feedback you can!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey again everyone! I want to thank you all for the reviews and the follows/favorites! I am glad that there are people that like what they are reading. There have been a two questions asked (mostly one question).** **Question One** **: WHAT ARE THE GOD DAMN PAIRINGS?! My answer is… wait and find out (XD). There will be a pairing with Itachi but I will not say who. What good would it be if I said it now? Then it won't be extra incentive to read and find out. However, I will drop clues as to two of the people I have it down to.** **Question 2** **: Will Itachi get a teigo? My answer will be revealed by the end of the next chapter so if you read on you will know.**

 **(** **Incoming rant, you have been warned** **) I have received come criticism about how I am portraying Itachi and I want to address them. Some people say I am being too vocal with Itachi, since he "did not speak much" or "would not blush". Itachi DOES talk a decent amount. When he fights Sasuke, most of the fight is talking. During his fight against Naruto and Killer Bee he was quite out with his personality, speaking about how he hates that he made Sasuke go down the wrong path in addition to revealing his secret and giving Naruto advice. If I had Itachi just do quick sentences this fic would be boring. It adds detail, something I feel that this story needs. In addition, Itachi might not blush a lot but everyone has feelings! Yea, "ninja hide their emotions" (even though the show has multiple times thrown that out the 10** **th** **story window). But Itachi has blushed. I wrote that last scene of the last chapter and the scene before the fight with the tax collector for humor. I will say this now:** **I respect if you have different views of Itachi from me** **. We all are entitled to our opinions. If you do not like how I am portraying Itachi here, then feel free to move on. Some people said I am being OC with Itachi but I feel I am not and a lot of others agree. Itachi doesn't openly show his emotions but after a while he does open up. We have seen this in Naruto when he opens up to Naruto and Sasuke about how he sees himself as a failure. He will be a bit more conservative as the story goes on (to an extent), but otherwise I will not change how Itachi is being portrayed.**

 **Anyways, sorry for the rant. Now, onto the chapter!**

 **Chapter 3: "Training"**

Itachi was awake for a while before he went to sleep. After his mission to kill the tax collector, he was sent on guard duty which he did not get off from until about 6 in the morning. When he finally went to sleep, he began to dream about when he was a child and babysat Sasuke. Everything was peaceful when suddenly a loud explosion and a scream was heard from an area of the hideout. Itachi instinctively grabbed his kunai and ran to the location of the explosion in his pajamas, covered in the Uchiha logo and some Akatsuki clouds. When he got there however, he was met by Tatsumi cowering in fear right next to the giant hole in the wall with Mine yelling at Tatsumi while in her undergarments. "You could have killed me!" exclaimed Tatsumi.

"WELL I MISSED!" Mine yelled back. "How dare you dodge you perv. You know you deserve to die for this!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't SLEEP IN I would not have been ordered to come get…" Tatsumi got caught off, starring in fear at the gun now pointing at him, the energy being collected and ready to be fired by the enraged pinkette. Itachi's eye was twitching in annoyance, noticing it was only 9 in the morning. " _I woke up… to this…_ "

"Well," Mine began, even, more pissed than before. "Have you heard of a thing called KNOCKING?!" The energy being collected in Mine's gun increased by double.

Just as she was about to fire, Itachi threw a kunai in front of her and Tatsumi, stopping them in their tracks. Itachi looked to both of them with VERY tired eyes. "And have you both heard of a thing called being quiet?"

Tatsumi turned to Itachi. "This does not concern you, butt out!"

Mine glared to Itachi. "GREAT another perv! You're next for that and for nearly hitting me with that weapon!"

Itachi gave them both one of the scariest death glares they have ever seen. "If you BOTH don't shut the fuck up in the next 3 seconds, I will force this kunai into both of your skulls, rip that empty hollow space you call a head from your shoulders, and use your decapitated heads in my next mission as a battering ram. Do. I. Make. My. Self. Clear."

Both Mine and Tatsumi immediately shut up, gulping in fear for their lives. Itachi turned around and began to walk back to his room. He laid back on his bed for a few minutes, realizing he could not fall asleep. He sighed and began to dress for the day. " _I swear if I get my hands on them…_ "

Itachi walked into the meeting room, meeting up with Najenda who was smoking a cigarette, Sheele who was reading, Leone who was picking at her teeth, and Akame who just finished making breakfast. "Good morning Itachi," Akame said. "I made breakfast. Tamagoyaki (rolled up egg with spinach), some rice, and some danger beast meat. Help yourself."

Itachi sat down on the end of the table with his meal in hand. He kept his question about danger beasts to himself, since if he asked what they were he would be seen as suspicious. He is trying hard enough not to use his sharingan as to avoid suspicion so he did not have to explain his situation. If he asked that, then he would be questioned even more, possibly leading to the leak of information that he was not even from this world, something he wants to be a secret until the day he dies here. He took a bite out of each dish, nodding in approval. "This is good, I thank you for the meal."

Akame nodded and went down to wash some of the dishes. Najenda turned her attention to Itachi as he ate. "I know you were up late with the watch. I thank you for the time you put in. I hope you slept well last night."

Itachi twitched at the word sleep. "I would have slept fine, if it wasn't for two brats…"

Sheele giggled. "You mean Mine and Tatsumi? I understand. Mine can be a bit loud. Tatsumi is supposed to train with Mine today. Tatsumi went to get her and well, I assume you know the rest."

Najenda took a drag from her cigarette. "Speaking of training, Itachi, I am going to have you train with two of Night Raid for the day. From the report about the mission, you seem to be able to handle yourself in battle but your killing intent was not as strong. Akame will help you overcome that."

Itachi sighed. He knew he did not need training for that. He was an ANBU captain for crying out loud! He sucked up his urge to tell her he did not need that, so his cover won't be blown. "Later," Najenda continued, "you will be with Leone. This will not be much training, since it will be more of a reconnaissance mission. This will help you understand the ins and outs of the capital since you are not familiar with it yet. It would be great information to have in case you get in a troublesome situation."

Itachi nodded, agreeing with Najenda. "That is fine with me."

Leone looked upset. "Come on I wanted to be with the cutie first! We should go to town now, right Itachi?" She said as Itachi was getting up. Before she could latch onto him, Itachi, dawning his normal expressionless look, grabbed her and spun her around, making her land back in the seat before she could even realize what happened. This left Leone with a confused look, with a bit of hurt, as he went to the kitchen. Akame just finished washing all the dishes when Itachi walked in. "Here, I will wash them." She says, going to grab them.

Itachi grabbed her hand gently before she could get his plates. "It is ok. I will do it. You just finished, I don't want to cause more work for you."

Akame looked a bit surprised, considering no one else in Night Raid EVER did their own dishes. "It is ok, I am used to this. Let me do them." She went to grab the dishes again, persistent that she would do them.

Before she could, Itachi poked her forehead in a similar way that he did with Sasuke. "Sorry, I got them. Maybe next time." He replied, beginning to wash his dishes.

Akame was now starring at Itachi with a slight blush and a look of confusion. "Okay… you know we are training today. I will teach you how to be more accurate in your killing. I will see you at around noon."

Itachi nodded as Akame left. He did hate that he had to be taught something he already knew, but he did not mind hanging out with Akame. Out of the people he met in Night Raid, Akame and Sheele were the ones he felt more comfortable with. Akame reminded him of himself when he was younger and Sheele was quiet but gentle, something that is rare to find in people of this work. Leone would be with them if she wasn't so attached (literally).

After he finished washing his dishes he went back to his room and showered. He put on his usual garment of his mesh armor, worn under his navy blue shirt and pants. He put on his sandals and wrapped the white belt around him. He grabbed his ninja pack, taking inventory of the weapons he needed.

Itachi looked to the time and noticed he had about an hour left before he was to meet with Akame, so he went to the factory part of the hideout and made about 2 dozen of each weapon. He then brought a dozen and 3 of each of them back to his room, hiding them, and then packed the rest in his pack. He walked outside, searching for where Akame would be. Before he could take another step, he felt a presence behind him. In sheer instinct, he drew out a kunai and blocked the oncoming sword that was aiming for his back. He turned to look, seeing Akame holding her sword to him, sheathed. "Those are quick reflexes. Najenda was right about you." Akame spoke, drawing back her sword.

Itachi nodded as Akame walked ahead of him. He noticed she carried another sword with her in a fish basket. "I thought about going to the training grounds, but we might get distracted. So we will head into the forest." She tossed her extra sword to him. "We will kill some danger beasts and fish for the meal later today. Follow me." She walked on ahead.

Itachi followed her, walking around in the forest for a few minutes when a bush by them rustled. Itachi grabbed his sword turning to the location of the rustling, noticing a dinosaur like creature running at them. He starred at it in interest as Akame immediately ran at it, slicing it to pieces. She turned to Itachi and noticed his expression, realizing this was the first danger beast he encountered. "This is a danger beast known as Marg Don. They usually travel in a pack so we need to be careful. Danger beasts attack any human that dares to venture in their territory, varying in size and form. However, I am expecting you to kill them on your first try."

Itachi gave a "hn" as they continued on. They walked out of the forest by a river, noticing now that there were more Marg Don. Itachi waited for Akame to go first and soon followed her, drawing the sword she gave him. They each sliced down about a few of them in the span of a minute before more came. Akame began to get a bit nervous, fearing Itachi might have bit off more than they could chew. She looked to him, taking note that he was indeed able to kill in one attack. That was not what interested her though; she noticed his eyes were darting around, looking at each of his enemies. " _So, he already realized that they are being led by one of them. For encountering these danger beasts as your first and being able to come to that conclusion in such short time, he does know how to fight._ "

Itachi glared looking around at each of the Marg Don, taking note mentally of each of their actions. He noticed one of them hiding in the back, looking on at the fight. " _So, that is the leader. This is a lot like fighting a shinobi's clones… if I am correct…_ " Before anyone could realize, Itachi appeared behind the lone Marg Don, cutting off its head. As their leader fell, the other danger beasts fled in fear.

Akame smiled at Itachi. "Very well done, you can analyze and see out the weakness of an adversary you met for the first time in a matter of seconds. It is almost as if you have done this before." She said the last sentence in an almost accusing way.

Itachi kept his calm composure. "I had to protect the village leader, so I had to learn quickly what to do."

Akame put down the fish baskets. "Ok, the next thing we need to do is catch the rare fish that live here. They live at the bottom, so you have to conceal your aura and then make them come to the top, where another person catches them."

Itachi nodded as Akame took her clothes off, wearing a bikini as she jumped in. Itachi grabbed a few kunai and waited for the fish to jump. After about a minute, 3 fish jumped out. Itachi used his quick reflexes and threw his kunai, each hitting them in the head and embedding them into the rock wall next to the river. Akame came up for a breath and saw the fish that were skewered by the kunai. She nodded as they repeated this process for a half hour or so.

They filled the basket to the brim with fish, which was more than enough for the meal later that night. "You did well Itachi." Akame nodded, changing back into her regular clothes. "I think this is the quickest anyone has filled up the basket. We still have to get one more thing. It is a bird danger beast with blue feathers. They are a bit dangerous since they are known to be very quiet and have killed and eat humans, but they taste the best when cooked."

Itachi nodded as he cleaned off his kunai. Akame looked curiously at the weapon-of-choice for the shinobi. "Is that what your village uses?"

Itachi answered. "They are a standard. Everyone has to learn and be proficient with them. However, I was one of the best when it came to these."

Akame looked questioning at him. "How good?"

Itachi got up, cleaning his weapons. "Follow me." He said and walked into the forest. Akame followed as they walked into an opening not too far from where they were fishing. The area, to Itachi, was similar to the one that he used to train at when he did his training which worked out to his liking. He went around to a few trees and a spot on the ground, carving what appeared to be a target. Akame then took note that he went to the other side of a giant rock that was there, making a target there as well, and then came back to where Akame was. "Will be able to hit some of them?"

Itachi looked to Akame with a confident smirk. "I will hit all nine of them, perfectly in the middle."

Akame looked a bit surprised. " _Even the one in the blind spot in the back of the rock… no. There is no way._ "

Itachi nudged her out of the way, sending her behind the rock so she could see the blind spot. Itachi walked to the middle of the open area, drawing out nine kunai. He closed his eyes and breathed calmly. Akame watched in anticipation. Suddenly Itachi jumped up, spinning in the air while turning himself upside down. He then began to throw three kunai from each hand as he spun, making six kunai flying. Then using the last three, he threw them into some of the other kunai as he flipped and landed perfectly on his feet.

Akame was in shock. Every single kunai was perfectly in the middle of the target, even in the one behind the rock. "That was incredible." She said, uncharacteristically impressed, but noticed one thing as she said this. "Wait, I only see eight that hit the targets when you threw nine of them. Did you miss?"

Itachi pointed in the direction where she just walked from. Her face was in greater shock when she noticed a bird behind her; not just any bird but the one they were looking for! "No way, how did you -"

"When I was leading you here I noticed that it was following us. You were busy talking to us to notice it there." Itachi interrupted. "From there I lead it to over here where I knew I could kill it, using its own stealth against it." He gathered all his kunai and grabbed the bird. "I think we should drop this off before it goes bad."

Akame snapped out of her shocked state and got the fish, walking back to the hideout. They dropped off their catch and walked back out to the forest, noticing Leone was outside. "Hey Akame! Seems you guys caught a lot."

Akame nodded. "Yes, I will be able to make the meal I planned for us to have tonight."

Leone smiled. "I can't wait!" She then turned to Itachi with a look in her eye. "Heeeyyyyyyy cutie, you ready to go?"

Itachi mentally sighed, knowing this might be a long day. "Yea," he replied shortly.

The two of them began to walk away when Itachi realized he still had the extra sword Akame gave him. He turned to Akame. "Here," he called out, tossing the sword, sheathed, back to Akame.

She smiled and tossed it back. "That is my favorite sword to use for practice other than Murasame. However, there are plenty others and I want you to have it." Itachi looked to Akame for a second, nodding in acceptance of the gift. With that, Leone and Itachi walked the capital. It was busier than it was the first time he walked in.

More people were about than when he first saw the capital. The shops were decently packed with people and a lot more were walking the streets. With this, Itachi knew that there would be more guards. His eyes darted around trying to spot them when Leone tugged on his arm. "Relax, buddy. They do not have our faces pinned to Night Raid yet, so they do not know who we are. You can relax a bit."

Itachi looked to Leone, noticing the wanted posters for Night Raid. He saw that only Akame, Najenda, Bulat, and Sheele (who was a new poster) were the only ones posted. Itachi eased up a bit but still kept an eye out, not trusting his surroundings, along with his ninja instincts to always be vigilant. They continued their walk as Itachi took it all in. He pinpointed some good escape routes that he could take if anything happened here. Itachi reminded himself mentally to ask Lubbock for his string so he could set traps on the go if he ever had to escape.

After a while, they walked into another area of the capital where a lot of people were smiling at Leone. A lot of them even called out to her and said hello. Itachi looked to her. "I see you are popular here."

Leone grinned. "Yep, this is where I grew up. I know a lot of people here, plus I help out here when I can. It is nice to give back to the place you grew up in."

Itachi looked to the side with a soft smile, knowing that he would give everything he had in order to protect the hidden leaf. Him and Leone walked down an alleyway when a few thugs blocked the entrance. They turned and noticed more blocked off that exit, sandwiching them. The one thug, presumably the leader, walked forward a bit. "Well, well, well, Leone. Seems you have a friend with you today."

Leone looked a tad nervous. "Aw crap!"

The thug laughed. "So, where is the money you stole huh? We want it back."

Itachi looked to Leone who gave a sheepish smile, knowing what Itachi was going to ask. "Let's just say that these guys are not the nicest and they take people's money… so I took it back from them."

Two of the thugs from behind them charged at Leone, only to be met by Itachi who in just a jab of his finger to their vital points incapacitated them. The leader began to get annoyed. "Hey stranger, this does not concern you so butt out!"

Itachi glared to him. "It concerns my comrade, so yes it does."

With that the thugs charged at them, drawing their swords with malice intent written on their faces. Leone balled her fist ready to fight when suddenly they all fell. Itachi stood behind their leader, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the wall. Leone was dumbstruck at Itachi's speed. " _He's FAST! Maybe even faster than Akame and Bulat. I guess he was weakened from not eating when we all fought him. I'm glad he was handicapped then!_ "

Itachi looked to Leone. "Go see if anyone is coming to get us."

Leone nodded and walked down the alley. Itachi quickly turned to the leader thug who growled at him. "What the fuck is your problem!?"

Itachi looked into his eyes. "You threatened my friend, something I cannot allow." He said, his eyes turning red into his eternal mangekyo sharingan. " _I might as well test it out to see how and if and how it works here._ "

"Tsukuyomi." He said quietly. The thug's vision went from the reality that he knew to a red sky with black clouds. He looked down and saw a dozen of Itachi, each with swords stabbing into his body while he was bound to a cross. He screamed in pain as each blade pierced him. Itachi made him go through this for a half a day's worth of time (so he would not do too much damage to him but still greatly hurt him), however it was only a mere millisecond in real time. He let the genjutsu go as his eyes returned to normal, looking into the conscious thug's eyes as he screamed, only to be muffled by Itachi's hand. This was the moment when Leone came back, watching the scene. She noticed that Itachi's left eye was bleeding, leaving a streak of blood from his cheek. She turned the corner to hide herself as she listened to Itachi, a bit frightened by what she saw.

Itachi looked into the man's eyes, his facial expression unchanged as he wiped the blood away. "If you or your friends come after her again, I will kill you."

The thug was shaking like a leaf as he was petrified by the "thing" in front of him. "you… you demon-eyed… monster" he breathed as he fell to unconsciousness. Itachi dropped him to the ground, clutching his head a bit. " _I need to start using my sharingan more. From not using it as much it makes my head hurt._ "

Leone then finally came out from hiding and walked up to Itachi. "No one is coming." She said hesitantly. She still could not wrap her head around the events that just took place.

Itachi noticed the change in personality and sighed. "There is a shop I want to visit before we go back." He walked by Leone and continued down the alleyway, stepping over the conscious bodies. Itachi turned to Leone. "I hope you are not mad that I did not kill them. I did not want to bring us trouble and get ourselves wanted. They will not have proof about us attacking."

Leone nodded and ran to catch up with Itachi. " _Where does he want to go… and after what he did…_ " she thought as they trudged down the streets. She looked to the sky, watching the clouds go by, lost in thought about what Itachi did. She suddenly bumped into something, that being Itachi, who was stopped for some reason. She looked over him to see what he was looking at, a deadpan look across her face. "You… wanted to go to a dango shop?"

Her partner turned and nodded. "It has been a while since I had one, I wanted to see how they were here." He said calmly, taking out a bag of money. "While I took them out, I took a bit of their money. I will by each of us some."

Leone looked surprised at him but did not question it. Itachi went in and bought 2 sticks of dango, giving one to Leone. "Come with me, I can tell you want to talk to me about something. We can eat this while we talk."

They walked out of the town and into the forest. After a while, they found a cliff to sit at that overlooked the land, showing off the beauty of the sunset as it glistened off the river that flowed. Itachi sat down at the edge and began to eat his snack. Leone looked at him and laughed. "Who knew you had a sweet tooth Itachi."

Itachi looked to her. "What, is there something wrong about that?"

Leone shook her head. "I did not expect a guy like you to like sweets, Itachi."

Itachi gave a small, unnoticeable smile. "You remind me of a good friend who said the same thing to me once."

A calm silence set over them as they ate more of the dango. Itachi looked out to the horizon while Leone doing the same. "You began to act strangely around me after we fought the thugs. Is it you do not trust me anymore?"

Leone looked to him and away. "It is not that… it is just… you just looked at the guy and he looked like he was stabbed over one hundred times. It was just scary, since it looked like you did not do anything. I know you mentioned about you genjutsy thingy but it is still surprising. And then he said 'you demon-eyed' monster… but yet your eyes were normal. It did not make sense!"

Itachi lowered his head, sighing. "You are right about it being genjutsu, but it was not normal genjutsu that I used on him." Leone looked a bit startled. Genjutsu was not normal whatsoever to her, so hearing that it was not "normal genjutsu" bothered her a bit more.

Itachi looked to Leone. "Listen, I will explain what I did, but you must promise NOT to tell anyone or ask about how I got what I am about to tell you. I do not want anyone to start questioning me about it. You are lucky I am even telling you to begin with." He said. Itachi wasn't lying; he did not want everyone asking about his eyes. Minus the fact he would get annoyed with the same question over and over again, he did not want to go under suspicion. However, something about Leone made him trust her for some reason. After a few seconds of silence, Leone spoke up. "Ok, I promise."

She sat more comfortably looking at Itachi who was still looking out to the sunset. . "From where I come from, there are a few people who can perform jutsu, as I said before. In addition to this, some "clans", or families, have a distinct trait that only they have. For some it is their relation with an animal or a certain style of jutsu. For others, it is their eye prowess. My family is known to have one of the best visual prowess."

Leone looked curious to Itachi. "What is that?"

Itachi took a deep breath and turned to Leone. Suddenly before her eyes, Itachi's onyx eyes turned a red color with three tomes around his pupil. "It is known as the sharingan. With this, I can copy most other jutsu in addition to performing stronger genjutsu and distinguish one's chakra, or life energy as you would see it."

She could not believe her eyes; this was something she never even seen let alone think about. "Do all of your family have these eyes?"

Itachi looked away for a second. "They did… before they died." He answered, beginning to form a lie in his head. "The village was attacked by some danger beasts that were above our level. Even I could not handle them. I was 13 when it happened."

Leone's eyes were riddled with shock. "So, you have been alone for this whole time? How did you survive?"

"I used the skills I had and went to the outside villages, working for money in any way I could. It was not easy. I was heading to the capital to look for a job when I ran into you guys."

Leone nodded. "I… I am sorry about that."

Itachi just continued on, looking back to her. "With these eyes, my clan was very strong. However, there is a level above that which is even rarer than the sharingan itself." With that, his sharingan tomes morphed into the pinwheels that his eternal mangekyo sharingan had, with red in the middle of each of the pin wheels and the black outline alone the edge of his iris. "It is called the mangekyo sharingan. This amplifies my genjutsu and the other abilities the sharingan gives me. However, it does take a strain on you from overuse, even leading to blindness in the end. That is unless you obtain the eternal mangekyo sharingan, which is what I have, where there are no repercussions other than a slight headache after using it for the first time in a long time. This sharingan lets the user have access to a unique jutsu depending on different factors. Mine is a genjutsu known as Tsukuyomi, which brings the one under the spell into a world of my vision where I can make them feel things as if it was all real. I can do what I want for as long as I want. I can torture someone over a span of three days but yet only a millisecond will pass in reality. That is what I did to that guy that wanted to hurt you, so he will not try to harm you ever again."

Leone looked a bit taken back at Itachi. "But… but why? Why would you do that for me? Why would you protect me and the rest of Night Raid?" She began to shake a bit in confusion. "A few days ago my friends and I tried to take your life over something that was not true. You should hate us and not want to help us in any way. That is what normally happens in this situation. Yet, you saved my life the other day, you helped Bulat, and even caught us food for our meal. Why don't you hate us like a normal person would?!"

Itachi looked to the sky, it changing from the normal blue to a light orange with the sun lowing more as his eyes returned to normal. "Hate… It is a feeling that only brings more pain. It is a disease that takes control of a person and makes them do things they would never normally do. All it does is lead to more pain and more bloodshed, whether for themselves or for the others around them. I have grown up knowing this and made sure to not fall into and follow the path of hatred. What happened that day, as you say, was you trying to kill me over a false fact that I should despise you and your friends over… However, I view it as a misunderstanding, and you guys trying to protect those you hold dear. Even after this, you gave me shelter and a way of life. You became my comrades. Where I am from, you always protect you friends. That is what I did yesterday. That is what happened today. And that is what I will do for the rest of my mortal life. I will protect you and all of Night Raid with my life, for you are my friends." Itachi turned to Leone, with a face that was written with a look that made Leone feel like he was being honest with her. "And those who turn their hands against their friends are sure to die a terrible death."

Leone was in shock at the words that Itachi said. In all her life, from robbing, to helping the poor people of her home, even to Night Raid, she never met someone like him. It is obvious he has seen some things, but to have the outlook he does even after everything truly set him out. She could tell that even though he looked about her age, Itachi was a man who was wise beyond his years. She smiled a bit, rubbing the tear that was rolling down her cheek. "Thank you. That means a lot to hear those words from you, and for trusting me with this secret."

She leaned closer to him, her mouth now right by his ear. "You know, you should open more. You look cuter when you do than when you wear your normal scowl and hide everything." She stuck out her tongue, about to lick his ear to mark him, when suddenly Itachi moved away. Leone felt like he was disgusted with her, looking down at the ground a bit saddened.

"I know what you were doing," Itachi spoke up. "You wanted to mark me so that I would be yours, later in the future."

Leone blushed at Itachi finding out her motives, looking away embarrassed with her eyes closed. " _Great, he is disgusted with me n -_ "

Before she could finish, she felt something poking her on her head. She opened her eyes to notice that it was Itachi's hand, his middle and index finger extended. Leone looked to his face and noticed something. Itachi was smiling, something she had not seen at all. It made her feel happy. "Sorry, maybe another time. We need to head back." He said, getting up and walking towards the hideout."

Leone sat there for a bit, then with a smile of her own she got up. "You got a point. Plus I'm starving!" She latched to Itachi's arm, making the Uchiha groan in annoyance. Leone laughed at his reaction. "Come on, let's go!"

With that, they walked back to the hideout.

 **And that is it! Now you know the two people in contention for the heart of the Uchiha! I'm sorry but I will not be putting up a poll. I already know who I want to pair with Itachi. As I said before, just read on and all will be revealed. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Here once again with another chapter! I want to say thanks again for reading this fic and for the follows/favorites that this gets. I want to answer a question a viewer had about my story which was "Now that Itachi is in Night Raid, will some of them still die?" The answer is yes some will, but who will is going to be found out later. Like I said in the last chapter, this will be the one where we find out if Itachi will get a teigo. Alright now into the story!**

 **Chapter 4: Zanku the Beheader**

The dinner for night raid was one worthy of a feast on a holiday. So much was prepared and cooked up since Itachi and Akame were able to gather a lot of fish. Akame and Tatsumi, the two cooks were surprised, when Itachi began to skin and cook the bird that they caught. "Wait, you can cook too Itachi?!" Tatsumi asked with a pretty surprised look.

Itachi nodded. "I was taught at a young age so I could cook for my family and once in a while the village leader." He skinned the bird and seasoned it with different spices as Akame and Tatsumi prepared the fish and some vegetables. Overall it took them over an hour to cook but once it was done, everyone was happy to dig in. Everyone minus Itachi (who was washing some of the utensils and dishes used to cook), sat down and chowed down to the meal. Bulat was one of the first to speak up. "My, I knew the fish was going to be good. But this bird is amazing!"

Lobbock smiled as he took a bite of it as well. "Yea, it is cooked perfectly all around. The skin is perfectly cooked but not overdone to where it is too tough."

Mine smirked. "I bet Akame was the one that cooked it. Her cooking is good compared to most. I know Tatsumi cannot do this." She smirked, obviously not done teasing him from earlier today when they were in town together.

Tatsumi growled. "You little b-"

Akame interrupted before the fight broke out. "Actually none of us cooked it. Itachi did."

Mine's jaw dropped almost too dramatically. "You mean moody ass did this?! There is no way."

This was when Itachi, who was wearing a cooking apron with a red cloud on it, walked in and began to eat as well. "I was the one that cooked it. If you want to believe it or not then fine."

Leone immediately went to latch to Itachi, who used a free arm to keep her at bay while Najenda spoke up. "Ok, listen up. We have been given a target tonight. His name is Zanku the Beheader. He is very dangerous and want you to be extra careful."

Tatsumi looked a bit puzzled. "Uh… who is he?"

Mine looked a bit dumbfounded. "HOW do you not know him?"

Sheele looked to Itachi and then looked to Mine. "Uh, we don't know who he is either." She added.

Mine sighed and explained who he was. "He used to be the executioner at the biggest prison in the capital. He would do hundreds of executions a day. After a while he got addicted to it and would later escape the prison and begin to kill innocent people for his pleasure."

Najenda looked to the group. "What makes him more dangerous is that he has a teigo on him as well. I will have Akame, Tatsumi, and Itachi go after him. Mine and Lubbock you will stay here with me to guard the base. As for the others I did not mention, I also received some intel about people in the government that will be willing to help us." She pulls out a book. "You can chose a few to select from and go meet with them to discuss what they will do to support us and to thank them. We can use any help we can get, especially if it will have us reach our goal."

Each of them nodded and left on their missions. It was around midnight when Akame, Itachi, and Tatsumi went into the capital. It was quite the eerie sight since there were a few lights on to light the street. The streets were baron of people, unlike in the daytime. "Jeez it is quiet here. I am not used to seeing no one here." Tatsumi spoke up.

Itachi kept his gaze around him, not sure who or what to expect. "I actually like it like this. It is quiet and I can see what is around. It makes for spotting things easier."

Akame nods, agreeing with Itachi's statements. They continued down the street a ways until Tatsumi spoke up again. "Akame, I got a question…"

Akame kept her gaze ahead as she replied to him. "Don't worry, there are enough snacks for all of us."

Tatsumi at this deadpanned. "That was not what I was going to ask… does your sword really kill in one cut?" He said this, replaying their first meeting in his head where she stabbed the small statue that was blocking his heart from her blade.

Akame stopped walking and turned to Tatsumi. "Yes. Both you and Itachi are lucky to be alive. I have used Murasame over many years. It has gained the reputation of the one-hit kill sword, which is to be expected. As good as this is, it is dangerous to clean, and if the opponent is wearing armor it is even tougher to get to cut them."

Itachi then interrupted her. "So, that is why you rely on winning the fight in one strike landing whether it is from the blade's poison or striking a vital point. That is why you trained yourself to be a skilled assassin that can use methods other than your teigo."

Akame nodded. "However, not everyone needs a teigo to have power. You are proof of that Itachi. You were able to take on all of Night Raid even while you were not in top form all by yourself and still be alive. That in my opinion is a feat in itself."

Itachi shook his head. "Even if I was in better shape it still would have been trouble. You guys are very skilled, I will admit that."

Tatsumi looked to both Itachi and Akame with curious eyes. " _Akame looks around the same age as me, and Itachi just barely 21… I wonder how many battles each of them have been through…_ " Suddenly, his body was beginning to panic: he had to pee. "I'll be right back." He replied as he ran into the alley.

Akame sighed. "I guess nature is calling." This earned a scowl from Tatsumi as he left to go take care of business.

Tatsumi did what he had to do in the alleyway. He fixed himself up and was about to leave when he heard something. He turned and saw something he thought he would never see: Sayo, his friend that was supposed to be dead. "Sayo…" he called out.

She began to run down the other alleyways. Tatsumi immediately ran down after her, following her to the town square. He ran up to her and hugged her tight. "Sayo, I thought you were dead… I am so glad you are here."

Just as he was finally feeling happy, a voiced rang through his ears. "Man, I must have shown you something VERY interesting."

Tatsumi panicked as he looked up, noticing that Sayo was now a tall, hulky man.

"Good evening, young man." He replied with a sinister smirk.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi and Akame sat at the bench as Tatsumi walked into the alleyway. Akame looked to Itachi. "So, did you have any siblings growing up?"

Itachi looked to Akame with an expressionless look, then turned to look the other way. Akame looked down. "Touchy subject huh… I am sorry I w-"

"I did." Itachi said. "A younger brother named Sasuke. He was everything to me. I loved him dearly and would do anything to see him happy. But before I left things happened and we became enemies."

Akame looked to Itachi with a saddened look, knowing how it is to be mortal enemies with your own kin, and then looked out. "I know how you feel. My sister, Kurome, and I used to be assassins for the capital. We fought everyday to protect each other. After I left, she saw me as a traitor and we became enemies, swearing that we will be the one to kill the other."

It was Itachi's turn to give a saddened look, but not for the same reason Akame looked to him. He hated to see that two siblings were hell bent on ending the other's life. It is something that no one should ever go through in his opinion. She did not know Itachi's situation, but he knew that it was his fault for making Sasuke hate him and want to take his life. He did what he had to do to protect his little brother but hated that his own flesh and blood wanted nothing more than to kill him. Though hearing that both siblings want to draw the other's blood got to him. Before Akame could ask about what happened, Itachi got up and went to the alleyway to see where Tatsumi was, only to find no one. He turned to Akame. "He is gone!"

Akame rushed over and saw no sign of Tatsumi. "I will go left, you go right. When one of us finds him, give a signal."

Itachi nodded and began to search the whole town. " _Where did that brat go…_ " he thought, trying to sense he energy. Just when he was about to give up, he heard the sound of metal clashing, meaning a fight. Itachi immediately turned and sprinted to the direction of the fight. Just as Itachi got there, he noticed Tatsumi barely scratching a big male with an eyeball worn around his head. Tatsumi's right arm began to bleed, obviously being attacked himself as the man walked towards him. Just as Itachi was about to charge in, a sword fell from the sky followed by Akame to block off the assailant's attack. The man smirked at his new opponent. "Well if it isn't the famous Akame. I am glad I can finally fight you. I always wanted to add your head to your collection."

Akame glared to the man that Itachi now concluded was indeed their target, Zanku. "Zanku, I am glad I can fight you as well, since I was told to kill you tonight."

Tatsumi looked up to her with a panicked look. "He can read your mind with that eyeball thing. Be careful!"

Akame nodded, and charged in at Zanku. They exchanged blow after blow, Akame blocking with Murasame and Zanku using his daggers attached to his sleeve. They were dead even in speed but he had the slight advantage in strength, thus he began to push her back. Zanku then swiped down at her, using his strength to push her sword down as he then swung from his left, scratching her arm. Itachi realized this was the time for him to move, using her backing up a bit and holding her wound as time to approach. Tatsumi was surprised, this being the first time he saw Akame get touched by her opponent.

Zanku laughed at her. "Come on, is this the best you can do?"

Akame glared at her opponent remaining calm, noticing Itachi moving in. "Considering you can read my mind and movements, it is easy to see you getting the advantage. However, what about a 2 vs 1 situation?"

Zanku reacted just in time as he blocked Itachi's sword, pushing him away as he landed towards Akame. "You let this man hit you? I might begin to doubt your capabilities." Itachi said jokingly.

Zanku smirked at the newcomer. "Ah, so I see another great fighter has come to help. I can tell he is like you, being a skilled fighter. I am wondering something Akame. How do you deal with the voices? The voices of the ones that you killed. When it is quiet, I can hear them. I hear them screaming at me in rage, yelling at me to join them in hell. This has been an everyday occurrence since day one at the prison, and every day it gets worse and worse. That is why I talk, to drown out the noise. So, wh-"

"I do not hear them." Akame said blankly, earning a look from Itachi. "I never have."

Zanku looked to Itachi. "And you, do you not hear them either?"

Itachi thought about it. A few days after the massacre, he had nightmares about the events that occurred. However, as a ninja he could not let those things get to him or he would be killed. "No I do not."

Zanku balled his fists. "You… you both disappoint me! NOW YOU WILL PAY!" He yelled, activating his tegio.

Tatsumi called out to both Akame and Itachi. Akame wore shocked expressions at the sight before them. Zanku laughed at them and Tatsumi, knowing exactly what he did. "This is my illusionary sight. With it, I can make them see the person they care about most in this life. She cannot move an inch from the amount of shock they are in! Akame cannot bring themselves to even raise their weapon to me!"

The sad thing for Zanku is he did not know how wrong he was. Akame couldn't believe her eyes to see that her own little sister was in front of her. However, if anything, due to Akame's conviction towards her sister, she was able to move past her initial withdrawal. Itachi knew exactly what was happening, predicting that it was her sister that Akame saw. Because of their talk earlier, he knew she was ok. Itachi sheathed his sword and walked away from the fight. Zanku laughed at him as Tatsumi yelled at Itachi. "WHAT IS YOUR ISSUE?! HELP HER!" Tatsumi shouted at Itachi, only to be completely ignored.

"I guess he realized this was a lost cause and decided to retreat. He is smart, unlike her, now she will DIE!" Zanku charged at her, daggers ready to strike. Just as he reached her, Akame swung with a strength that made even Zanku fly back. Tatsumi and the headhunter both looked in astonishment from the lack of hesitation in the move, thought Itachi knowing what would happen remained expressionless. "HOW?! I SHOWED YOU THE ONE THING YOU CARED ABOUT?! HOW CAN YOU STRIKE?!" Zanku yelled in fury.

Akame just calmly looked to him. "My desire to kill her, is because I love her. Now, it is time to end this." She swiftly charged into Zanku, moving faster than he could react. From instinct he tried to block her attacks. " _At this rate, my daggers will break! And I can't even read her mind quick enough to counter her. NO!_ "

After a few seconds into the high speed skirmish, Zanku's daggers shattered to pieces. Akame saw her chance and slashed at Zanku's neck, ending the fight. Tatsumi stared in awe and happiness. " _Wow, she did it! I need to get stronger._ " He thought.

Akame flicked the blood off her sword. "Zanku, those voices will never haunt you again."

Zanku realized that she was right. With the slash of her blade, the voices finally stopped. Zanku smiled in delight, finally having the peace and quiet that he dreamed of. The thanked Akame as the last of his life slipped away into death.

Itachi looked to Akame. "Well done."

Akame nodded, picking up Zanku's teigo, and began to walk away. Itachi picked up Tatsumi who was still too injured to walk. Tatsumi called out to Akame. "Hey, may I ask, who did you see Akame?"

Akame stopped in her tracks. "I will tell you when the time is right. Just know this, everyone in Night Raid is important to me. This includes you and Itachi."

Tatsumi blushed and looked away, letting Itachi carry him back to the base.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day was a bit calmer than normal. Tatsumi spent the day with Sheele doing some training to strengthen himself as Itachi watched. He learned about her past, about how she killed her friend's boyfriend who tried to strangle that same friend friend, getting separated from her because of this. She was then attacked by the boyfriend's dead friends who she cut down as well, realizing that this was the one good thing she was able to do. Tatsumi looked to Itachi and Sheele as he took off the suit of armor Sheele had him swim in. "Do you guys think I can do this?"

Sheele smiled happily. "I think you will be great, right Itachi?"

He had to think about it at first. Yes, he was still too innocent for the line of work. He knew probably better than anyone here what it took considering he was doing similar work Night Raid did before 13, which is younger than when most of the group began their assassin life. However, Tatsumi was indeed skillful, showing he could take on someone like Zanku at least until backup came, giving him some hope. Itachi nodded. "With a little more training, you will be fine."

Later in the day, all of Night Raid met in the meeting room. Najenda held Zanku's teigo in her hand and looked to Tatsumi. "It seems you recovered flawlessly. That is good news. We required Zanku's teigo, and I want you to try it out. Be careful because teigo can put a strain on your body and mind."

Tatsumi took it into his hands with an excited look. He put it on expecting something to happen. When nothing occurred, he became a bit upset.

Akame noticed this and stepped up to Tatsumi. "Try to read my mind."

Tatsumi closed his eyes as everyone watched. "You… are thinking about eating meat tonight!"

Akame looked in awe at her friend. "You knew!"

Itachi and Leone mentally face-palmed. "It wasn't even activated yet." Leone spoke out. "Try concentrating on it and activating it."

Tatsumi nodded and sat on the floor, closing his eyes. The teigo eye opened, beginning to activate its abilities. When he opened them, he was met with something he did not expect; he saw right threw Akame, Sheele, and Mine's cloathing, revealing their undergarments. He became flustered. "Whoever made this, was a frickin genius!"

Just as he said this, his head began to pound and his body reeled in pain. Akame knew it was rejecting him and immediately took it off. "I guess this is not the one for you Tatsumi, sorry sugar." Bulat spoke.

Najenda looked a bit down, feeling bad that Tatsumi would still be without a teigo. However, her face changed to curiosity as she then eyed Itachi. "Hey Itachi, do you want to try it?" Everyone's eyes immediately fell onto Itachi.

Itachi looked to Najenda thinking about it. From what he could understand, it was like his sharingan, thus him feeling like there was no need for him to use it. However, to humor his new boss he took it and tried it on, removing his Hidden Leaf headband. He activated the eye, channeling a bit of energy into the teigo. It began to glow for a bit as Itachi began to be able to read everyone's thoughts. However, just as he was about to truly use it, the teigo shattered, making everyone jump a bit. "IT BROKE?!" Lubbock exclaimed shocked at what just occurred.

Najenda sighed. "And we were going to get more info on it."

Itachi felt a bit bad, he did not know it was going to break. He figured since he already had a similar ability with his sharingan plus the fact that his chakra also mixed a bit with it that that was the reason why it broke. "I did not know that this would happen. I apologize." He made a mental note not to try another teigo again so he would not break another.

Najenda waved her hand. "It is ok. We did not know this would happen. It is fine since the teigo we collect either get handed to another in the revolutionary army or get destroyed."

Tatsumi spoke up to Najenda. "Hey, what would you say is the strongest teigo?"

Najenda glared to him, knowing the answer immediately. "The one that can create ice from thin air. It is wielded by the empire's strongest general who is at the north right now stopping an invasion."

Tatsumi smirked. "Well, I think we can take her. No sweat!"

Leone turned to the new assassin. "You're in a good mood. What's up?"

Tatsumi looked to her. "I got an idea. With all these teigo around, each of them can do amazing things. So, what if there is one that can bring the dead back to life?! I can bring my friends Sayo and Ieyasu"

With this, the air thinned from tension. Everyone in the room wore a grim expression, even Itachi. Bulat decided to break the tension. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing that can bring the dead back… we all only get one shot at life."

Tatsumi wore a defeated look on his face, not wanting to believe what "Bro" said. "NO! There has to be one! We just have to find it!"

Akame took her turn to speak. "If there was, don't you think that the first emperor who made them would have made it and then still be alive? He probably saw it was impossible, thus making the teigo in the first place. Just forget it. If you don't let go, the enemy will take advantage of that and kill you."

Tatsumi was at this point boiling in rage. "How can you say that? THERE CAN BE A WAY! I KNOW IT! I just have to find it and I will prove you all wrong!"

Itachi lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes. This was the point he had enough of the conversation. He thought about this many times before when he was in the Shinobi world. He HATED that he had to kill off his clan, even his own mother and father. He never showed this but he even thought about using the reanimation jutsu to bring them back for hell's sake. However, he saw what that jutsu did: all it did was bring more pain for the dead and for the living. It took him a while for him to accept that and even still it hurt. Itachi walked up to Tatsumi, grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the wall. Sheele went to go stop Itachi from doing further damage when Najenda stopped her, shaking her head to let Sheele know not to stop this. She was curious about this ninja and wanted to see where this would lead.

Everyone now was watching in surprise Sas Itachi pinned Tatsumi to the wall, using his forearm to press onto his neck so he could not move. Itachi's bangs still covering his eyes as Tatsumi tried to free himself to no avail. "You foolish little child… there is no way to bring the dead back." Itachi spoke with a hint of anger. "It is a fact of life that everyone dies, whether it be on the battlefield or from a terminal disease. There is no way around it and you need to get that through your thick skull. And even if there was a way to bring them back…" Itachi looked up to Tatsumi looking him dead in the eyes. "I bet the result will be something you do NOT want to see."

Tatsumi went to argue with him when he noticed something. He looked into the Uchiha's eyes and saw something that he hid away: pain. The pain from losing the ones he cared about. It was a similar look he wore for days after he found out his friends were dead. Itachi lowered his arm as Tatsumi ran out of the room. Everyone felt bad for Tatsumi for having to go through that. Even Mine hated it herself and she found Tatsumi to be annoying. Though everyone there knew he had to hear it otherwise he would never get over the loss of his friends.

Later that night Sheele left the hideout to find Tatsumi who never returned for dinner. She found him kneeling on the ground before his friends' graves that he made for when he first joined Night Raid. "Tatsumi, shouldn't you be going to sleep soon?" She asked him.

Tatsumi did not turn to her direction. "I was happy to think that I could bring my friends back. I always knew the idea was farfetched but I thought I had at least a slim chance." He began to tear up as they rolled down his cheek and down to the ground. "I guess I never got over their deaths, even when I thought I did. I guess I will never see them again." He began to cry, trying to hold it all in when Sheele wrapped her arms around him, letting him lay on her lap as she snuggled him. The wind blew gently, making her purple hair dance in the wind. "I will not tell anyone about this, so go ahead and cry until you feel better."

Tatsumi looked to her and then into her arm. "Sheele… thank you."

She smiled and looked at the moon. " _No, I should be thanking you Tatsumi. You gave me another reason to be here. To make sure you are ok._ " She smiled softly and snuggled him.

Itachi was in the shadows watching Tatsumi from when he got there. Even though he knew Tatsumi had to hear what he said, he felt bad for what he did. He went to town and picked up two dango sticks and went back to Tatsumi where he found him and Sheele snuggling. He was happy to see that she was comforting him, showing that she was the kind, gentle person he thought he was. Itachi felt that this was the moment to go to talk to him. He walked up to them and called out. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

Sheele and Tatsumi turned to Itachi, both separating from their position. "Actually we were on our way back." Sheele answered as she got up, trying to cover for Tatsumi.

Itachi nodded. "I see, may I speak to him alone?"

Sheele nodded and left them two alone. Tatsumi was not thrilled at all, expecting another lecture and yelling that he did not want to deal with. However, Itachi sat down next to him. "I went into town and got these for us. They are called dango; it is a sweet that I used to have when I was sad." He handed him one of the sticks which he took hesitantly. "Thanks" was all that Tatsumi said.

Itachi looked out to the moon, the light shining off his face as they ate their snack. "I want to say sorry about what I did earlier. I know I had good intentions behind it, but I should have went about it in another way. I hope you can forgive me."

Tatsumi just looked down at his friend's graves, not giving him an answer. Itachi realized he was still mad at him for his actions. "I guess the reason I was so mad is because I know how you feel."

Tatsumi's face went from sad to anger. "Oh yea, you know how it feels to lose your two best friends who were supposed to help you save your village? You know how it feels to lose two people you care about in an instant and know you cannot do anything to bring them back?!"

Itachi looked down to the bottom of the cliff that the grave site was on, then looked to him. "I know how it feels to lose your whole family, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi starred at him in shock. "R…really?"

Itachi nodded. "It was a terrible day. I was 13 years old when it occurred. I lost everyone that I loved from friends to even my own parents. After it happened I felt the same way you do, wishing to see them again and bring them back. However, I had no one to console with. I had to learn the hard way that they are gone for good. That is why I was tough on you. But just because they are gone, does not mean that is it. You have this here to come to them when you are sad." He pointed to their graves. "You even have friends here that will be here for you when you need them. That includes me."

Tatsumi turned to the graves of his fallen friends, letting his words sink in. "I understand. Thanks Itachi."

Itachi smiled and rubbed Tatsumi's back. Tatsumi looked to his new-found friend. "May I ask, do you have a grave for them?"

Itachi looked to him and then away, shaking his head. "No, I did not have time to make one without endangering my life. And there is nothing left of my village so there is nothing to bury."

Tatsumi got up and held out his hand, finishing his dango. "I have an idea."

Itachi grabbed his hand and got up, following Tatsumi to the extra lumber section of the hideout. There Tatsumi told him to bring them to a site next to where his friends were buried and began to build something. Itachi realized what it was after he was done: Tatsumi used his crafting skills to make the Uchiha fan and create it into a memorial. "I figured that weird fan on the back of your shirt was the crest for your family after what you told me. I know you did not get to bury your family but they should at least have a memorial. Now when we both miss the ones we loved we can go here to remember them."

Itachi smiled at Tatsumi. "You do not know how much this means to me. I thank you dearly."

Tatsumi nodded. "Don't worry. It is what friends are for. We should probably go back to base before it gets too dark." He turned and walked back to the base.

Itachi starred at the new monument, remembering everyone from his clan, from his mother and father to Shisui, to Izumi, to even his little brother Sasuke. " _I promise not to shame the Uchiha name here. I will one day bring it here and have it stand for good, and not the evil that it has caused in my home world. It will be the fan to create the wind that will bring worth the fire of peace, not that of war. I swear this on my life._ " With that final thought, Itachi then turned and followed his friend back to the base.

 **And there is the end! So now you have an answer to will Itachi have a teigo (in case you missed it, no he won't). Please comment/review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello there once again! Here I am with yet another chapter for this story. Once again I am thankful for all the follows/favorites. Besides the fact I really like this story so far, the other fact that you guys like it as well makes this even better and gives me the will to continue on. Now, here is the chapter!**

 **Chapter 5:**

The day went a bit slower than normal for the members of Night Raid. Tatsumi was spending the most of the training with Sheele and Bulat, swimming with the armor like he did the other day. Mine went out shopping with Leone (in addition to their actual mission of scouting out their next target). Najenda was out for most of the day meeting with the other revolutionary army leaders to discuss their next move. Akame was preparing dinner for every, making the usual dish of meat with some meat and a side of (you guessed it) meat.

Itachi was making some of his kunai to replenish his weaponry that morning when Lubbock walked up to him. "Hey, can I talk to you for a bit?"

Itachi looked to him and gave him the ok to ask. Lubbock continued. "I see that you use those mostly. I was wondering besides hand to hand and throwing them, can you use them in any other way?"

Itachi nodded and stood up. "Follow me." He replied, leading Lubbock to his room. He opened his door for Lubbock, letting him look in. From what he could tell, there was nothing special. "Why did you bring me here if there is nothing here?"

Itachi took out his sword and gave it to Lubbock. "Throw it in the middle of the doorway."

Lubbock shrugged and did as he was told. Just as the sword got through the doorway, kunai went flying in all directions, hitting the sword and just around it, making Lubbock jump a bit. Itachi smirked, happy that his trap worked perfectly. "I was able to rig my room so that if you open it normally, this will happen. I used some string I had to have it so when someone else other than me enters my room, they will tug on the string, which will then send the kunai at the direction of the open door, hitting the intruder."

Lubbock looked to Itachi. "That's awesome. I was wondering, if you don't mind, maybe showing me how to use them so that I can use them for traps as well?"

Itachi looked to Lubbock and nodded. "As long as you let me use some of your string then I would be happy to."

Lubbock nodded, not minding sharing his teigo and supplies to help a comrade. Itachi led Lubbock to the training grounds where he set up targets on one end of the field. He walked back a bit to where Lubbock was, and took out 6 kunai, handing them to him. Lubbock reached out to grab them but grabbed too close to the end of the wrapping and cut himself. "Damn those are sharp!"

"In order to go through your target, whether danger beast or human, it needs to be perfectly sharp." Itachi said. "When you grip these, make sure to grip them fully on the wrapping. That is the safest part to touch them."

Lubbock took hold of them properly. Then Itachi began to instruct him on how to throw them, showing him step by step. "Now, try to hit the target." He added.

Lubbock looked to the target. He gripped the kunai and tossed it, hitting just below the target. He growled in annoyance but was interrupted by Itachi. "You need to relax yourself. If you concentrate too hard you will miss. Since you are new my suggestion to you is look to where you want to hit, in this case the middle of the target, and aim a bit above that."

Lubbock took the second kunai, relaxing himself by taking deep breaths. After a few seconds, he let it fly, just hitting the target, making him smirk. "HA!"

"Not bad. It isn't the center but it is a pretty good start." Itachi replied.

Lubbock turned to his teacher. "Say, how good are you with these?"

Itachi smirked a bit and nudged Lubbock to the side. He opened his pouch and took two kunai out, holding them in each hand. He starred at the target for a second and then closed his eyes. Using each hand, he threw both kunai in the air, throwing them in such a way that they would curve greatly, now going towards the target. Lubbock watched confused a bit but interested. " _So he can curve them without even trying that much… but they seem to be off their mark greatly._ "

Itachi then opened his eyes, taking out another kunai and throwing it quickly. The third kunai did exactly what he wanted it to do: he threw it at just the right time so it would go through both loops at the end of the hilts of the kunai and hit the dead center of the target. Lubbock's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Wha… that was awesome!"

A voice called out from behind them. "Yea, I have to say, that was pretty cool." Bulat commented as he approached them, shirtless but wielding his spear, obviously in the middle of training.

Itachi thanked them both for their compliments. "Lubbock, I want you to train on days where you do not have a mission. If you want to use these then you need to be top tier in using these. No exceptions. Until then, you will only get the six I gave you."

Lubbock nodded and proceeded to practice throwing them as Itachi and Bulat walked away. Bulat turned to Itachi. "It is nice seeing someone that cares about everyone here, even after they all threatened his life."

Itachi looked to the demon armor user. "As I have mentioned before, I understood the situation clearly and get why you all did what you did. I am just glad to be here now."

Bulat smirked gripping his spear. "Speaking of fighting, I would like to spar you. I know we had that fight when we first met but I want to see you in action at your best."

Just as Itachi was to accept his challenge, Leone appeared from nowhere, latching onto his arm before he could even try to stop her. "Ohhhh cuuuuuuuttieeeeee!"

Itachi groaned in annoyance as she began to rub her cheek on his, trapping his arm in her vice grip and between her chest. "What now? And can you let go of me?"

Leone laughed. "Sorry not going to happen! And the boss wants to see you and Mine, so Sheele went to get her and I got you. Come on grumpy!" She began to drag Itachi away as Bulat was laughing his butt off. Itachi went to glare at him but the constant tugging on his arm prevented him from doing so. They both got to the meeting room where Akame, Mine, Sheele, and Najenda were waiting for them. "I'm glad to see you here Itachi. I was given a mission for us to complete, and I feel you, Sheele and Mine would be best for this."

Itachi made a mental sigh as Mine had a look of annoyance. "Great, I have to partner with him?! This is going to fail."

Najenda ignored her comments. "The target is a lieutenant in the Imperial Army, using his military status to get away with whatever he wants whenever he wants. This includes taking money, and raping women. He is known to be as dangerous as the Imperial Demon by most people, but his real name… is Naruto."

Itachi's heart felt a surge of pain and anguish for a second. " _No… no way…_ "

Najenda took out the photograph of their target taken by a revolutionary spy, which felt like an eternity of time passing for Itachi. She placed it down, showing what their target looked like. Itachi's fear was soon subsided, seeing that this Naruto was not the one he knew. The Naruto that was his target had similar markings on his cheeks to that of the Naruto he was familiar with, but their target black hair and black eyes. He could also tell that it was not the Naruto he knew from the smirk he had. It reeked of evil and belittlement, while the Naruto he knew would never look down on someone the way this target did. "Thank God." He tried to say to himself but accidentally let himself slip.

Everyone turned to Itachi, hearing his words. "What? Why did you say that?" Sheele asked.

Itachi realized now that he must have said it out loud. "I had a friend named Naruto and I thought he was our target. I had not seen him since he left our village before it was wiped out. However, the Naruto I know had blonde hair and blue eyes."

Najenda nodded cautiously towards him. "His full name is Naruto Menma, he will probably be at the bar in the southeast section of the capital. Your mission will not start until later that day. All of you meet at the exit at 5 pm sharp. For now, you are dismissed."

All of them began to leave when Najenda nodded to Leone, who got Sheele and Mine's attention just after Itachi left. They both stayed behind with their boss and comrade, making sure no one was nearby when they closed and locked the door. Najenda turned to the remaining members. "Sheele, Mine, I want you to take your normal sniper position from the target while he goes and distracts him. I want you to keep a very good eye on him."

Sheele looked to Najenda. "But we will be killing the target so why keep an eye on him?"

Mine sighed. "She means Itachi you idiot."

Najenda looked out the window. "I know he has helped us a lot, but there is something about him that rubs me off the wrong way. We barely know about his past, while he at least knows most of ours already. He does not really let his emotions show as if he is distancing himself from us. And now his reaction to the target has me more convinced that there is something up."

Najenda turned herself to Leone. "Listen, you are the one of the very few that can sneak up on him, Leone. I want you to keep an eye on him when he is on guard duty tonight. Look for anything suspicious."

Leone and Akame looked a bit down. Leone finally got Itachi to be her friend and like her. She knew she teased him more than he wanted but she did it because they are friends and that is what she does. Now she has to spy on the one guy that she finally became friends with? This got worse and worse for her. And Akame was able to finally trust him after a day. She became close to him, even hearing about his childhood vaguely. Some might say she began to care about him more than a normal person would. To now hear there might be something with her new friend made Akame feel as if there was a divide in herself. After a minute of silence, Leone answered her boss. "Okay. I will do it."

Najenda nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "Do me a favor and keep this a secret from everyone. If something is up then we will tell them all and interrogate Itachi. Otherwise, if I am wrong, then we will drop this like it never happened." With that, everyone left the room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi walked the streets of the capital, searching for the man he was supposed to have killed. He looked down at the photo of their target and could not help but think of Naruto, which lead him to think about his little brother and his plans. " _Naruto, I hope you were able to help my brother._ " He thought.

A few loud voices came from a bar he passed by. He knew people went there to drink a lot but the voices sounded more like someone meeting a celebrity. He went to the alley that the bar was next to and looked in the window. There, at the middle of the bar was their target. Seeing the Uzumaki look-a-like in person made his senses go haywire for a second, but he shook it off without any issues. He went deeper into the alleyway and casted a genjutsu on the area around him so he would appear to others (minus Mine and Sheele) as being someone in the Imperial Army. He then casted a genjutsu on the picture of the target, making it seem like a classified file that read "for Naruto's eyes only".

Itachi walked into the bar, bobbing and weaving past a few drunk guards that were in there. He approached the target and tapped his shoulder. He turned around. "What do you want an autograph too?"

Itachi kept his emotions checked when he heard his voice, which sounded exactly like Naruto's. " _This is really going to be annoying._ " He thought and he then spoke to the target. "I am from the covert division in the empire. I need to talk to you about something."

The man turned to him and asked for proof, in which Itachi showed him the fake file cover. With that he got up and followed Itachi to just outside of the town in a semi-opened field. Off in the distance, Mine and Sheele were watching as the two spoke. Naruto Menma looked to his "partner". "Ok, we are out of the city. Now what?"

Itachi then held the 'file' in front of him, letting his genjutsu fall, revealing his true cloathing and the picture that said "Wanted Dead" with his face on it. The lieutenant smirked. "So, Night Raid has finally come after me. It saves me the job of going to you rebel scum."

He drew out a sword, pointing it to Itachi as he drew his sword. He let his eyes change into the sharingan, knowing he would be too far away for Mine to see even with her scope and knowing that this lieutenant was not someone to sneeze at. "Ah, so you have an interesting teigo in your eyes." Menma said. "Well, I assume it is an illusionary one since that is how you lured me here. I guess all I have to do is not look at you in the eyes."

Itachi smirked. "That is not all it can do. However, instead of telling you about it, how about I show you." He said, not bothering to comment about his eyes not being a teigo. With that, he charged at the adversary, swinging his sword towards the lieutenant. Naruto Menma blocked it with ease as he then went to attack Itachi, who also blocked every attack.

Mine and Sheele were watching closely at their actions. Mine noticed Itachi's smirk as he talked to the target, then began to attack but in a way that seemed almost fake. "That smirk he gave, and the way they are fighting… it is like he is letting him block."

Sheele noticed this too but thought of it differently. "I don't know what was said, but they could be feeling each other out to see what the other can do."

Itachi calmly blocked every attack thrown at him like it was nothing. He was nothing like Naruto Uzumaki who could at least go toe-to-toe with him. This Naruto he was fighting now was too sloopy in his movements. If it wasn't for the fact that he was told to wear him out without scratching him and let Mine snipe him so they could make it into a suicide, Itachi would have diced this guy in a second.

Naruto was finally beginning to feel very fatigued. None of his attacks were hitting his opponent, but Itachi was not landing any on him. " _So, we are evenly matched… I can't keep this up for much longer._ "

He looked up to his adversary, making the mistake of looking in his eyes but was too exhausted to notice. "How about we end this. I am getting bored and I have a puppet back at base wanting to get her 'just deserts'." He smirked as he said the last part.

Itachi glared to his opponent. This was DEFINITELY not the Naruto he knew. "I agree we end this. I am sorry, but you lost." Keeping his gaze on Naruto Menma, his sharingan turned into his eternal mangekyo sharingan, putting the lieutenant under a powerful genjutsu that froze his body. With that, Itachi scratched the left side of his head, signaling to Mine to take the shot. After a bit of a delay, the shot rang out, piercing through his skill as his now lifeless body fell. Itachi walked up to the Naruto look-a-like and placed the gun in his hand and using his sharingan removed his fingerprints from it.

Mine still looked through the scope to watch Itachi as he did this. She saw him get up and smile, saying something, and then leaving the scene. "He just said something with a smile… I do not like this at all Sheele. We have to tell the boss later when we meet after Leone watches Itachi." However, she did not catch what Itachi said. As he got up from placing the gun in his hands, he smiled to himself. "You are nothing like the Naruto I know. I hope he truly did become Hokage and save Sasuke…"

With that he left and then returned to his other group, returning to base.

XXXXXXXXXX

The dinner meal was a bit awkward for Najenda and Mine who were suspicious about Itachi. Leone, Akame, and Sheele (who were involved in this as well) wanted to believe that they were wrong about Itachi but a part of them still was not sure. Itachi sat next to Akame and Tatsumi who talked about how their day went. Lubbock then talked to him about how he finally was able to get the kunai in the middle of the target, earning a nod of approval from him. "After a bit more of that, I will teach you other things you can do with that kunai." He replied.

After the meal, Najenda sent Itachi out on his watch. He left and began to circle around the perimeter as he usually did, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He was hoping for a peaceful night after having to see someone that looked a lot like someone from his home world. It was a lot to take in at the time but still nothing he couldn't handle.

A few minutes later, Najenda nodded to Leone, who reluctantly activated her teigo, lowering her aura so she would not even be detected by Itachi, and followed her friend. She tailed him pretty decently considering she knew he was still faster than her. The evening turned to night as they both made circles around the camp. The duration of his watch felt like forever to Leone. She prayed that Najenda was wrong about him, she really hoped he was indeed a good guy after all.

Finally, it struck midnight, which meant Tatsumi was to relieve Itachi of his watch. Leone smiled happily. " _I knew he was not a bad guy! Haha!_ "

Just as Tatsumi took off on his run, Itachi went the opposite way of the hideout. Leone, who was curious, decided to follow him. They both went through the thick forest as they reached the memorial Tatsumi made for Itachi. " _So this is what Tatsumi made for him. I guess it is for his family that died._ " She thought.

Itachi then began to speak to the memorial, almost as if someone was there. "I am happy that there is a something to remember you all by. I wish I could see you all again." He said aloud, sitting down. He imagined as if his mother, father, and Shisui were there talking to him so that he would not feel awkward about openly talking to a wooden family crest.

Leone did feel bad he had no family. Most of Night Raid abandoned any family they had to come here to help the revolution. It was a fact that everyone there accepted and got past. However, it was still something that came up in thought once in a while and it was a sad topic to talk about. Some of them don't even have any family left or don't even know if any of them are alive. Heck, Akame's only family is her sister who she plans to kill (or get killed by).

Itachi sighed as he looked down to the ground. "I have met an interesting group of people who all seem to like me. I am glad that I do not have to deal with being branded like the other people from home did."

This sparked curiosity from the lioness like woman. " _Branded?_ "

Itachi balled his fists, looking back up to the memorial. "I want to tell them more about myself… but I feel I will be persecuted. I know I cannot tell them about my secret. If they ever found out, they would probably kill me on the spot… what should I do… I do not want to disgrace the Uchiha name…"

Leone's eyes widened. " _Secret? Uchiha name? What could he… no… no way… I have to tell the boss._ "

Just as she went to move, a nosie was made. Itachi immediately got up and walked over to the location of the sound, a few meters away from Leone. She began to panic on the inside, hoping she would not be found. She did not want to have to explain to her new friend what she was doing.

Just before Itachi got to Leone's location, a squirrel ran out of the bush and climbed the tree nearby. Itachi sighed in relief and went back to the monument. Leone took her chance and left the area, making it back to the base unnoticed by the Uchiha. When she entered the room, Sheele, Mine, Akame, and Najenda were all already there. "Ah Leone, you made it." Najenda spoke. She looked at Leone and noticed that she was different then her normal cheery self. "Are you ok?"

Leone sighed. "I will tell you what happened. Let us start this and I will give the info that I picked up."

Najenda nodded and asked Mine and Sheele about what happened during the mission. "Well," Mine began. "He brought him out to the area we designated and they talked for a bit. I noticed he smirked at the target before we engaged him. They seemed to be evenly matched but I could tell that he was letting the target block his attacks. It was almost too obvious."

Sheele commented. "I noticed this but thought it was because they were feeling each other out."

Najenda nodded and had Mine continue. "Anyways, somehow he just looked into his eyes and then he froze. I am going to assume it was his illuision thing that he uses. He gave me the signal and I killed him in one shot. Itachi placed the gun to make it look like a suicide as per instructions, but before he left it looked like he said something to him. I am not sure what but it gave me a weird feeling."

Najenda nodded. "It is suspicious. And you could not tell what he said?"

Mine shook her head. "With the distance we had them at it was hard to see his mouth move. But I know for a fact it did."

Najenda then turned to Leone. "Did you pick up anything when you followed him?"

Leone snapped out of her thoughts about Itachi and spoke up. "When I tailed him through his guard duty, he did not look suspicious or meet with anyone. He seemed normal. However, it was when Tatsumi relieved him that it got interesting. I assume Tatsumi and Itachi built a little memorial. He began to talk aloud, I assume to act as if his family was with him, but he was alone. He said something that made him compromise himself. He said, 'I want to tell them more about myself… but I feel I will be persecuted. I know I cannot tell them about my secret. If they ever found out, they would probably kill me on the spot… I do not want to disgrace the Uchiha name…' "

With this, everyone's eyes widened. "What secret… and Uchiha name?" Sheele asked, not sure what to think.

Akame looked down, her face becoming emotionless. "I assume that Uchiha is his last name. And if he said that we would kill him on the spot, it can be only one thing…"

Najenda grimly nodded. "I hate to say it, but this but Itachi Uchiha is most likely a spy for the Imperial Empire…"

Everyone was shaken to the core hearing those words. Their comrade, who they finally began to trust, a spy? Akame looked to Najenda. "What shall we do?"

Najenda sat and thought for a bit. "I recently got a mission for us to accept. Leone and Tatsumi are to target a gang in the Red Light District. In addition, Sheele and Mine are to assassinate another target while Itachi does recon around the area. I will have Akame tail Itachi while this happens to make sure he does not escape. We need him for that part since he can use his genjutsu thing to help with an escape."

Najenda paused for a bit to let this sink in and then continue. "As long as we act like this never occurred, he will not expect a thing. He might be very observant, but he cannot read our thoughts. Then, after the mission, I will send Itachi out on guard duty with Akame tailing him while we tell the others of our discovery. Then, after Itachi's done, we will bring him here, reveal that he was a spy, and then kill him."

Leone was surprised at the harsh decision but she understood. She could not let her feelings for her friend get in the way of the safety of the group. Itachi was a spy, and she knew he could not be left alive. The rest nodded, agreeing with the idea.

Najenda looked out the window at the full moon and stars that lit up the sky. "Tomorrow will be a tough day. Go get some sleep, you will all need it."

 **End of the chapter! Big shit is going down now! I was thinking about having this come up later but I felt it would all fit now with what I later on have planned. I feel bad that this chapter is a bit shorter than normal but the next one will be a major chapter. Sheele and Mine vs Seryu! And what will happen to Itachi?! Find out next time! Please comment/review and if you liked it follow/favorite the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**HELLO! Once again here I am with yet another chapter in this story! I will be posting two chapters today. I at first had this and the next chapter all one chapter but saw it was WAY too long. These was probably my favorite chapters to write because this was one of the first ideas I had for the story when I began to think about it and I felt it was really emotional, especially after what each of Night Raid and Itachi have been through up to this point (not much for Night Raid at this moment but still). Thanks again for the reviews and follows/favorites.**

 **So, here we go into this chapter… oh, and the ship everyone is trying to find out WILL BE DISCOVERED!**

 **Chapter 6: Death?**

Most of the next day was eerie quiet for everyone. Most of Night Raid were preparing for the mission Najenda explained to them that morning about the Red Light District and their other targets. The ones involved in the meeting last night were still trying to wrap their head around the events that occurred the night before, still not believing what will occur later tonight. Akame was leaning on the balcony overlooking the training grounds where she watched Itachi training Lubbock on how to curve the trajectory of the kunai. She could not get her head around it, no matter how hard she tried. Leone after a while joined her up on the balcony. "You're pretty spacey today, what's up?"

Akame looked to her best friend, turning away from her. Leone got a troubled look on her face. "Are you thinking about your sister again?"

Akame shook her head as she continued to watch Itachi. Leone finally put two and two together. "So, he is on your mind huh. You are not alone."

Leone took a spot next to Akame and watched as Itachi instructed Lubbock. "I am still surprised about it myself. If I did not hear what he said for myself I would not believe it."

Akame still stared down, not giving any emotion or response. Leone was curious about something. "Just wondering why are you so torn up about this? This is very unlike you."

Akame looked to Leone, turning her head back to the field. "It stings when you find out someone you thought of as an ally was an enemy all along."

Leone was a bit more confused. "Yea I understand, but usually you are not so… distraught… by it. I know there is something more."

Akame began to think back to her moments with Itachi, from fishing to the kunai trick to their personal talks they had here and there. It just made everything worse. Leone did not notice Akame being lost in thought and continued. "I mean he seems nice but it's not like you… wait… Akame…"

Akame snapped out of her thought train and turned to Leone. Leone began to smirk a tad. "No… don't tell me, you liked Itachi?"

Akame blushed a bit, shaking her head no. However, Leone could tell she caught her friend. "AH YOU DO!" Leone giggled a bit.

Akame turned, shoving Leone away. "Leave me alone."

Leone calmed down and hugged her. "I see why this is bothering you so, I know how you feel."

Akame looked to her friend. "You liked him too?"

Leone giggled. "At first I had a crush on him, but he is too serious and everything, which is why teasing him is so much fun. However, when we talked I viewed him more as a close friend, even like the brother I never had… at least until this happened."

Akame nodded and looked down. "We just have to accept what will happen and move on. As tough as it is, I know we will get through it."

With this, they both went inside to meet with the others. When everyone was present, Najenda began to lay out the plans. "I will have Leone and Tatsumi take care of the thugs in the Red Light District. Since Tatsumi needs more experience and Leone knows that area, I feel they will be the best. Sheele and Mine, you will both go to assassinate the target located close to the southeast side of the capital. It is close to the center, so Itachi and Akame, you will scout the areas around there to make sure no guards get in the way. Go and complete the missions."

They nodded as they all left for their missions. Najenda stopped Akame to talk to her privately. "Listen, I know I do not need to tell you this, but make sure he does not try to flee. We need him to get back here. If something happens where he dies, then so be it. But make sure that he otherwise comes back alive."

Akame nodded and went out to do her part of the mission.

XXXXXXXXXX

It did not take Tatsumi and Leone long at all to get into the main building that their target was located in. Considering that Leone carried Tatsumi in her beast form all the way there, Tatsumi was happy to be alive. "Next time let's try the stealth approach and not lug me around and jump through windows hu?"

Leone smirked. "But that is no fun at all now is it?"

They crawled around in the attic for a bit til they heard some laughter. Leone found a loose board in the floor and carefull pulled it up. Below them were a bunch of girls around different hookahs, obviously extremely high off of whatever it was they were doing. They noticed one girl was way more out of it than normal. Two thugs walked up to her, one wearing a pink blazer and an eye patch while the other wore a white suit. "Seems she is finally done. She is too addicted. Just get rid of her, we can get more off the streets." The pink blazer thug said.

Tatsumi was pretty annoyed at this, but did not realize how angry Leone got. "That girl they are "going to get rid of" is a friend of mine from where I grew up…" She got up and slammed her fist into her other hand. "Now I'm ticked off. Let's slaughter these jackass and be done with this."

Tatsumi also got up with her and nodded. They wondered around and found the room where the thugs were meeting. With a nod, they broke through the roof, jumping down and immediately started slaughtering all the gang members. Leone immediately ran after the guy in the pink blazer, picking him up by his neck. "PLEASE! I'll give you anything you want! Money, girls, drugs, anything. JUST PLEASE LET ME LIVE!"

Leone looked darkly at him. "Thanks, but what I want is your life!" She let go and slugged him in the chest, the impact stopping his heart as he slammed into the wall. "Who… are… you…" were his dying words.

Leone smirked at the now dead man. "We are just a couple of fuckin bitches!"

Tatsumi deadpanned. "Can we not be that…?"

They later on brought the girls to a different room for them to detox in and left the compound. Tatsumi looked to Leone. "So, what will happen to them?"

Leone sighed, putting her hands behind her head. "That is not in our job, so we can't do much but hope for the best. However, I think there is a doctor around. I know he is into good-looking women so he probably would not mind helping them. I guess I can talk to him about it."

Tatsumi smirked. "So you do have a soft side sis."

Leone just shrugged and looked away. "I was friends with one of those women. That is pretty much it." She said quietly.

"Well, I don't care about the reason. The only thing that matters is that they get a chance to start over and make a life for themselves."

Leone looked to Tatsumi, stopping in her tracks. "Tatsumi… I wanted to say something to you"

He stopped walking, turning to Leone to respond to her. She leaned in, her lips inches from his ear. "When you actually smile, you're really sweet." Before he could react, Leone stuck out her tongue and gently licked his ear. Tatsumi immediately backed up with a look that was a mix of awkward and "why did you do this to me". Leone laughed. "No use running now, I marked you as my territory. When you grow up, you're all mine." She said with a grin.

Tatsumi was trying to still wipe off the saliva from his ear as they began their walk back to the base. Leone looked to the sky. "I wonder how the others are doing…"

After she spoke those words, her face went from cheery to sullen, being reminded about the events soon to come. Tatsumi noticed her change. "Are you ok?"

Leone looked to Tatsumi. "Yea, I will explain later." She replied, walking a bit ahead.

Tatsumi wanted to find out why she got sad out of nowhere, but felt it was best that he did not pry.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mine and Sheele were running through the streets at a quick pace. "Jeez that guy was annoying to track down. I thought he would have been at least a little bit easier."

Sheele just smiled. "At least we finished the mission on time, now let's get back to base."

Just as they got to the square, something dropped down in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. The smoke cleared, revealing a girl in armor and a small dog next to her. "I recognize you, purple haired girl… you're from Night Raid aren't you… and I bet it is safe to say you're your friend is from Night Raid as well." A dark aura began to rise from her as an insane grin appeared on her face. "I, Seryu Ubiquitous of the Imperial Guard, can finally avenge the death of my master, General Ogre!"

Mine smirked as she reloaded her pumpkin. "So, you really want to fight us that badly huh?"

Sheele eyed the dog closely. "Is that what I think it is?"

Mine nodded. "It is an organic teigo."

Seryu pulled out her sub-machine guns, firing nonstop at her two enemies. Mine and Sheele dodged the bullets that flew by, drawing their own teigo. Seryu looked to her teigo. "Koro, go fetch!"

With that, Koro grew in size, being double a normal person's height, and charged at the two assassins. Sheele side stepped and sliced the teigo. Thinking that she got it, she went to turn toward its wielder when she suddenly felt something breathe down her neck. She turned to notice Koro was regenerating from her attack. Before it could attack, Mine shot it away, giving Sheele time to back up. "Remember, we have to hit its core or get the user. Otherwise we would be wasting time!"

Sheele nodded as they waited for the next attack, Seryu looked to the assassins, no emotions being displayed. "Koro, bulk up."

With that, Koro's muscles began to bulge out as it charged again. Sheele stood in front of Mine, fending off the attacks that Koro dished out. As she blocked the attacks, a whistle was heard throughout the area. Seryu blew her whistle, signaling guards for help. "Damn, now we have to speed this up a bit." Mine spoke a bit in distress. She jumped, shooting Koro sending him into a wall. With the distraction, Mine charged at Seryu, trying to kill her as best as she could. Mine kept Koro distracted, shooting at it whenever it tried to help its master out.

Sheele backed up a bit and charged. " Extase!" She yelled, her scissors creating a blinding light that Seryu could not see through. She backed up, somehow blocking the attack. Sheele kept going, not letting her momentum slow down. A few attempts later, Sheele finally kit her, cutting her arms off. Seryu fell back as Sheele lunged at her to deal a fatal blow. Just before she could, a shot rang out, coming from the part of her arm still attached to her. Seryu smirked, thinking she got her, only to see that Sheele blocked it.

"She... blocked it?" Seryu began to panic as Sheele walked closer and closer to her, slicing off her guns that were attached to her body. Seryu cried in pain as Sheele stood next to her, ready to finally end the fight.

Seryu looked down to the ground. " _There is only one thing left to try…_ " she thought with that insane grin she wore before. "KORO! USE YOUR TRUMP CARD! GO BESERK!"

As those words rang out, Koro began to glow red as the energy in him began to increase exponentially, his muscles increasing in size. Before Mine could react, Koro grabbed her in one swoop, beginning to squeeze the life out of her. "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _(Just before their fight)_

Itachi and Akame were walking around the area near Mine's target's location. Akame could not stop but think about the truth about Itachi being a spy. " _I don't want to believe it, but it was proven that he is. I just need to move on…_ "

"Akame," Itachi called out to her.

Akame snapped out of it and looked to Itachi. "Y... yea?"

Itachi turned to her. "You seemed off today. Is something bothering you?"

Akame looked away from Itachi. She wanted to ask him about if he was a spy but she knew that he would immediately flee. "It is nothing." She said, keeping an emotionless tone.

Itachi looked ahead, continuing to walk. "I assume it is about your sister… I understand you do not want to talk about it. When you do, please, you can talk to me. I want to be there for you."

The more he spoke, the more Akame felt like someone was stabbing her. She was about to blurt something out when a whistle was heard. They each looked towards the direction of the noise. "That is coming from where Mine and Sheele were…"

Just as they were about to head over, they hear some guards running in their direction. Akame began to get more nervous for her friends. Itachi tapped Akame. "We have to assume they are in trouble. The guards are probably heading toward them. I would stop the guards but then they would know my face, and that would mean one more person who cannot come into town. Since they know you already, you have to distract them. I will go and save them."

Akame got extremely uneasy. She knew she had to keep an eye on him but she did not want to have her friends get killed. "We can go together and stop them!"

Itachi glared. "No, both of us will get distracted here while the other guards around catch up to them. If I go, you can distract them here and I might be able to beat out the other guards that are around here. Please, just trust me. I will return to base." He turned to the direction of the noise, about ready to run.

Akame realized he had a point. She knows she was told to watch Itachi in case he tried to ran, but an uneasy feeling set in her stomach. "O... okay. Promise me you will be back."

Itachi turned to face her. She jumped a bit, realizing that his eyes were no longer the onyx color she was used to but were now red with 3 tomes around the middle. "I swear on my life." With that he vanished.

Akame swallowed whatever emotions she was feeling and immediately jumped in front of the guards. She dove in, swinging her sword at each of the opponents before her. " _Itachi… you better not lie to me about this…_ "

Itachi began to get closer and closer, hearing the sounds of fighting. Suddenly, a scream of pain in the form of Mine's voice was heard. Itachi began to jump from roof to roof faster and faster. He finally got to the scene and saw what was happening. Itachi began to go into panic. " _I didn't want to have to use this… but I have no choice!"_ He thought as his eyes turned into the eternal mangekyo sharingan. Without hesitation, he summoned his crows and went in.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _(As Itachi heard the scream)_

Mine was seconds away from being squished. She already felt her arm break from the pressure. Her screams of agony rang loud throughout that part of the capital. Just before she was about to be killed, Sheele came in, slicing of its arm and freeing Mine. Sheele kicked it away, sending it into another wall, bringing more smoke up. Mine looked up from the ground, seeing Sheele and smiled to her. "You saved me."

Sheele turned back to Mine, smiling back. "Yea, that was close."

Just as things looked like they were turning out for the better, a shot rang out. Mine watched as the bullet passed through the middle of Sheele's chest. Mine looked to where the shot came from, noticing that Seryu had a gun in her mouth, smoking from recently firing a round. " _NO… Sheele…_ "

Sheele began to fall, the world going in slow motion blood began to pour out of the front of her chest. " _What… is happening… I can't move…_ " As she fell, Koro was lunging at her, mouth open and ready to deliver the final blow. Mine watched in horror, eye widened as she was too stunned at what she was witnessing to even scream. Seryu grinned manically, biting on the end of the gun sticking out of her mouth. "JUSTICE PREVAILS!"

The area around them suddenly got an eerie quiet with the imminent death about to happen. Just as Koro reached Sheele, a crow's caw was heard. Suddenly Sheele vanished from her spot. Mine initially thought that she was eaten at first, but noticed that the ground where Sheele was would have been a puddle of blood, yet not a drop was there. Crows began to swarm around Mine, acting almost as a barrier from the danger around her. Koro went to charge at Mine, when suddenly a figure appeared before it, punching it away into the nearby clock tower. Mine watched a bit, confused at the situation, but soon passed out from exhaustion.

The figure vanished and appeared before Seryu before she could process what happened. She looked up at it, only noticing one thing: glowing red eyes with an odd design in the middle. Once she looked into the gaze of this thing, she immediately was sent to another world, where she was repeatedly stabbed by Mine and Sheele, watching her death over and over again for the time span of two days. After the eternity of watching herself get killed over and over, she returned to the battlefield as if only a second went by. She went unconscious as the voices of guards were heard. The figure turned to a flock of crows itself. Then, along with the crows circling Mine, they vanished, leaving nothing behind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mine slowly opened her eyes, seeing trees and cloudy sky above her head. She slowly leaned up, suddenly remembering what happened. "You are awake." A familiar voice called out, seeming like it was already preoccupied.

Mine turned and saw the accused spy, holding a glowing green hand out over what seemed to be a lifeless Sheele. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She said panicked.

Itachi continued to try to heal Sheele. The bullet hit a vital spot, meaning Itachi had to do whatever he could to stabilize her. "Sheele was shot in a very bad spot. I am trying to heal her."

Mine glared to him. "You are not a medic, how the fuck are you going to heal her you fuc-"

Itachi looked up to Mine, his eternal mangekyo sharingan still blaring. "You want your friend to live right?! Well the way she is now she will NEVER make it to the base. I am the best shot she has right now so make sure no one finds us and let me help her!" He yelled at her.

Mine was too shaken by the form his eyes were now in. They scared the hell out of her, almost like they were those of a demons. She looked away, not saying a word. Itachi then continued to do what he was doing, not letting up on the healing for a second, knowing that if he stopped she will die. After 15 minutes, Itachi's hand stopped glowing. Mine turned to Itachi, who in turn looked to her. "I was able to stabilize her. She was shot through part of her spine and near her heart, hitting a main vein. I used my ninjutsu to heal up the wounds. She will not be able to walk for a while, but she will live.

Mine sighed with relief when a rustling of bushes caught their attention. Just before they were able to draw their weapons, Akame ran out of the forest. She sighed in relief to see that all of her friends were safe. Mine explained to Akame the events that occurred, from the target being killed to Sheele's near death. Akame nodded. "Well, at least everyone is alive. Let's go back to base."

Mine nodded, she tried to get up but had difficulty. Akame bent down to help her up, having her lean on her for support. Itachi got up, picking up Sheele and holding her in a way to not aggravate her injury. Once everyone was ready, they vanished into the forest, heading back to base.

XXXXXXXXXX

They got back to the base safe and sound. Itachi ran in, putting Sheele in the infirmary room and explained the situation to Najenda. She nodded and sent Itachi out to guard the base while she had Mine and Akame secretly gather everyone in the room. After everyone got in, the situation about what happened to Sheele was explained. Tatsumi wore a scared face, starring at the seemingly lifeless body of the violet haired comrade. She began to move a bit, opening her eyes. "Sheele, you're awake!" Mine cheered, hugging her friend.

Sheele smiled weakly. "I am surprised I am. I thought I was truly going to be dead."

Bulat smiled in relief. "Well it's good that you are not. I'm glad Itachi saved you."

Lubbock nodded. "I am glad that he is on our side, that's for sure."

Najenda, Leone, Akame, Sheele, and Mine all wore a grim look. "About that, we need to talk to you guys about him." Najenda spoke up.

Tatsumi looked confused but listened in to their boss. Najenda then went into detail about their discoveries, from his reaction to the Naruto that was their target the other day to Leone's spying on him. When all was said, Lubbock, Tatsumi, and Bulat all looked shocked. "I… I don't believe it. How can he be a spy?!" Lubbock replied, not wanting to believe it himself.

Bulat sighs. "When you put the evidence together, that is the only conclusion."

Tatsumi balled his fists, making his way to the door. Akame grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "No Tatsumi, I am going to go get him. I will bring him to the meeting room. There, we will get it out of him and then kill him."

Tatsumi looked into the eyes of his crimson eyed friend. He turned and sat down. Tatsumi hated this, hearing that someone he was beginning to look up to was lying to them the whole time. All he could think about was murdering that bastard.

Najenda looked to Akame and Lubbock. "Lubbock, I want you to have your teigo on standby to tie his arms behind him, while Akame subdues him, gets him on his knees, and puts that headband he wears over his eyes to act as a blindfold so he does not use his illusions against us and escape."

They both nodded, ready to follow their boss's orders. Akame set out looking for Itachi. She opened the door, spotting him sitting just outside. "Itachi, come inside. The boss needs us." Akame called out to him, keeping her signature emotionless expression

Itachi turned to Akame, following her in and up to the meeting room. Everyone was there, turning to Itachi as he walked in. Akame opened the door for him, so she could hide the wires from his vision as he walked in. Itachi stepped into the room, feeling something was off. Najenda looked up from her seat. "Thank you for joining us, we have a mission."

Itachi nodded, thinking this was just a normal meeting room. Najenda continued. "We were told of a spy infiltrating the revolutionary army. We are told we have an idea on who he is and what he can do. He is pretty dangerous, so I want you to handle it."

"That will be fine by me. I think I can handle it." Itachi replied.

Najenda looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "That is good to hear Itachi… or should I call you Itachi Uchiha?"

Itachi's eyes widened, hearing his clan name being spoken. Using his shock against him, Lubbock activated the trap, making his string come to life, tying his arms behind his back as Akame came from behind, kicking the back of his legs. Itachi fell to his knees, feeling the string tighen around his arms that were behind his back, making it hard for him to move. Akame then pushed his headband in front of his eyes, making him blind. "What is the meaning of this?!" He yelled out, now getting angry.

Akame drew Murasame, now positioned at his neck, touching his skin but not cutting it. Najenda got up from her seat. "You think we wouldn't notice huh? The look you gave when you saw the target the other day, you speaking to his dead body?"

Itachi glared in the direction of the boss, still not being able to see. "I already said I am not with the empire. What do those events have to do with anything?!"

Najenda just shook her head. "Yea, you're right. However, and the "secret we would kill you over" would have nothing to do with it either, right?"

Itachi's eyes widened, realizing someone was watching him at the memorial the other day. How could he be so stupid?! "… Leone, did you spy on me?"

Leone looked down, hating that she was now being dragged into this. "I… I… I did. I wanted to prove you were innocent. I really did… boss sent me to spy on you, and after you said that, I realized I was wrong."

Itachi felt Akame grip Murasame tighter, holding it steadier at his neck. "Look, if you admit the truth to all of this here and now, we will make your death quick and painless. If you don't I will make sure you die slowly and painfully, traitor." Akame spoke coldly.

The last word struck him hard. The last time he heard those words was from the home world, when he sat in a café, hearing leaf ninja talking about his massacre. Itachi sighed sadly, looking down at the floor.

"You are right Najenda," Itachi began. "I have kept things from you. My village, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was not a village here… In fact, it was a village not from this world."

Everyone starred blankly at the ninja, not believing what they heard. "So you are saying you are from a different world?! You're lie to us more?!" Mine angrily replied.

Itachi turned his head to her direction. "It is not a lie. I am not a spy, I am not even from this world."

It was Tatsumi's turn to get pissed. "Are you fucking serious?! There is no way! Why are you being a coward you Imperial bastard!?"

"If I was a spy, why would I save you guys?!"

"Because you needed info on where the army was to report to your superiors!" Lubbock answered, giving off his rage at the Uchiha.

"Itachi, I am sorry but we have you caught. Please, just admit the truth and tell us your higher up that put you on this mission." Bulat said calmly.

Itachi could not believe this was happening. He felt like Tatsumi, Sheele, Akame, Leone, and Lubbock at least were his friends… and now to see them turn against him. It hurt. However, he had to prove his innocence. He realized there was only one thing to do that could save him: the one thing he hoped to never have to do.

"Akame, can you please uncover my -"

Najenda interrupted him. "No way in hell will we do that. We will not fall for your illusion trick."

Itachi remained calm, not giving in. "Listen, instead of telling you the truth, I will show you the truth with my genjutsu. I can have it set so that you see ALL of my memories unedited. And if any of you feel an ounce of pain, Akame can slit my throat, killing me and ending the genjutsu."

"And what if you are lying to us with that too?" Sheele asked weakly, who was sitting in a wheelchair.

Itachi looked to her with a glare that could even be felt though the headband turned blindfold. "You can determine that for yourself after. If you still think I am lying, then this is where my last breath will be taken."

Najenda was quiet for a few minutes, thinking things over. "Fine." Akame, go ahead lift it off his eyes but keep it on his head and the sword to his neck."

She did as she was told, letting Itachi see his thought-to-be friends. He noticed Najenda and Mine were sternly looking at him, while the others were as well but a hint of sadness. " _So, some did truly see me as a friend…_ "

Itachi closed his eyes. "What you are about to see is going to be quite gruesome. You have all seen death and bloodshed, but nothing will prepare you for what I will show you. Only a second will go by in real time, but it will feel like a lot more."

Najenda just huffed at him. Itachi nodded. "Very well. Before I begin, I will explain the origin of my clan." Itachi started with how basic information, like how it was started and who were the founders. He mentioned all about Madara Uchiha and what he did, including about the sharingan and its forms. He explained that it was because of the sharingan that he could create stronger illusions. After this Itachi took a deep breath, letting his eternal mangekyo sharingan form. "Now that I explained my clan, I will show the truth. The truth about Itachi Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf."

 **End of the Chapter. Please review and follow/favorite.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello there everyone. As I mentioned before, I am posting this and Chapter 6 together. Hope you enjoy the second part.**

 **Chapter 7: No More Hiding**

The room changed from the meeting room they were just in to darkness. Battle screams were heard all around them. The darkness, finally took form, revealing a battlefield full of dead ninja, blood staining the ground where they laid. Night Raid took notice that some of the dead had the same symbol on their headbands as Itachi did. This was when they realized that this world was entirely different from their own, never seeing anyone with these headbands or gear before they met Itachi.

Their eyes caught on to a small boy who was helping a ninja with a different symbol. The ninja took the drink from the boy, thanking him. He noticed that the child had ninja tools on him, drawing out his kunai. Before he could attack, the child slit his throat, killing him instantly. The boy turned to another man approaching from behind. "Father, why did he try to kill me? I was just trying to help."

The man stood behind the boy, looking out over the battlefield of the Third Great Shinobi War. "I want you to remember this. Never forget what you see here. This is the life of a shinobi, something you will be going into, Itachi."

Some of Night Raid gasped at the name. " _That child… is Itachi?!_ " Sheele thought, realizing (along with the other members) that he killed at an age younger than anyone in that room. The scene then morphed to a woman in the hospital room holding a newborn child. Itachi's father sat beside her with Itachi standing over her. She turned to her son. "Itachi, this is your brother Sasuke."

Itachi took Sasuke into his hands, holding him gently. The baby giggled at the sight of his older brother. Itachi smiled back at the little baby in his arms. The scene then changed to a village in ruins. Night Raid franticly looked around, watching people flee in all different directions. A roar echoed through the sky, coming from a giant fox with nine tails. They all watched as it destroyed most of the living area, even killing some people. They then spotted little Itachi, running with Sasuke in one arm and a girl about his age in his other hand. They ran into a shelter and huddled there until the attack was over.

The scene again changed to the funeral, where Itachi sadly starred at the pictures of those that died, including the Fourth Hokage. His thoughts of "what is life?" and "what is death?" echoed through the air. The scene changed to Itachi standing on the top of a cliff with the faces of each Hokage carved into them, the same thoughts echoing through the air. Little Itachi closed his eyes as he let himself fall, plummeting towards certain death. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open as he took out a kunai and stabbing it into the cliff side, trying to stop his fall. The kunai fell out, making him take out another and using both of them stopping his fall. He got up off the floor he landed on, spotting a crow. He hesitantly reached out to it, petting it as it cawed. The crow flew off, only to return with more as they circled around him. " _So that is why we saw crows before… They are like his ally._ " Mine thought to herself.

The scenes would now change from a variety of things, from Itachi and his family eating onigiri to him at the academy. They learned that kids went there at the age of 6 and graduated at eleven. However, Itachi was a prodigy, graduating in one year at the age of seven. They saw him take on missions with a group of older boys who at first were annoyed that a youngling was on their squad. After a mission or two, Night Raid saw they began to trust him. However, the trust would not last when his group was suddenly attacked by a masked stranger, who killed everyone in Itachi's squad. The scene morphed into their funerals and then later that night when Itachi was holding his brother, crying about the events that took place. This was where Leone noticed that Itachi first got his sharingan.

They watched as Itachi was allowed to take place in the "chunin exams" even though he was teamless, passing with flying colors. They watched him rise the ranks, surprising everyone that he was still only a kid. They finally caught up to where Itachi, at age 11, joined the ANBU Black Ops, who were according to the man who allowed Itachi in, were the best of the best, given only top secret co-op and assassination missions, and got his ANBU tattoo. They watched as Itachi even excelled in this, becoming a captain at the age of thirteen.

Then things got a bit complicated. The image changed to a meeting hall, where they noticed Itachi's father leading the discussion. Night Raid came to the conclusion he was the leader when he began to talk about how the village have shunned the Uchiha, blaming them for the Nine Tailed Fox attack (which they learned was coined the Kyuubi). Fugaku, Itachi's dad, asked Itachi to report to them about the Leaf's movements so they could know when to plan their revolt. Tatsumi looked a bit overwhelmed from everything he saw so far, trying to digest that Itachi's family now wanted to revolt.

The next they watched was Itachi standing in front of a boy around his age, who was holding something in one hand while his two eyes were bleeding. The boy, later learned to be Shisui, told Itachi about how a guy named Danzo was after his eyes and tried to kill him. He gave him the item in his hand, smiling softly. "You are now the one who has to help the clan Itachi, it is up to you." With that, Night Raid watched as the boy jumped off the cliff, taking his own life. They looked back to Itachi, whose eyes changed from the normal sharingan into the mangekyo sharingan.

The scene before them morphed into Itachi talking to the Third Hokage, a man with bandages who they learned was Danzo, and two council people about the revolt. The Hokage wanted to try to work it out peacefully, only to be shot down by his other colleagues for fear that if the talks did not work and a revolt did start, it could lead to the village being invaded. Itachi looked down, knowing what they might suggest. Danzo brought up the idea of a second option, to which the other members glared to him, knowing what he was going to say. The scene then changed to Itachi standing in a hidden temple with Danzo. "Itachi, I have a proposition for you. You can choose to side with your clan and possibly be killed off, or to take my idea instead."

Itachi looked down at the ground, thinking for a bit, then looking up. "What about Sasuke?"

"He is just a boy and does not know anything. You can leave him out of it. But the rest are not to be excluded." Danzo replied.

Itachi was silent for a bit, turning around and walking away. The scene then morphed into the night as a masked figure was seen walking around. Itachi approached the masked man, who they found out was Madara, asking for refugee and help with something. Just before they could go into detail, the scene changed again, showing Itachi in his ANBU uniform standing outside of the compound. Night Raid was confused about what was going on and was waiting to see what happened when the real Itachi spoke up. "You overhead me speak of a secret… that I never wanted you to know…" Itachi began, trying to keep down the sadness that filled his throat.

Night Raid all turned to Itachi, who they now noticed was staring at the ground, bangs covering his eyes. "What you are about to see… is the secret I was talking about. If you want to turn away, do so now."

None of Night Raid knew how to handle what was just said, but none turned. The scene finally played out. Night Raid had many thoughts run through their head, but none were what they soon began to watch. Horrified looks became visible on every member as they watched the one thing they never thought he meant by "the secret": one by one, Itachi began to kill every member of his clan. Blood splattered all over the walls as screams of terror were heard. No one knew how to react to this. Most of them felt anger at Itachi but then realized that this must have been what Danzo and the Hokage were talking about by a second option. Finally, they got to the scene of Itachi entering his own house. They watched as Itachi's father called out to his son, saying they are inside and for him to come in, not wanting to fight with his son. Itachi stood behind his father and mother who were sitting on the ground, gripping his sword.

"I see, so you aligned with the other side." Fugako Uchiha spoke up.

Itachi stood there, not moving an inch. "Father… mother…" Itachi spoke softly, obviously in a lot of stress from what he knows he has to do. "I... I just just..."

"We already know, Itachi." His mom spoke up.

"Itachi, just promise me this…" his father spoke again. "Take care of Sasuke…"

Itachi's eyes began to tear more than any of the other memories showed. "I will…" he answered.

Fugako heard his son shaking from everything, scared to move. "Do not fear it. This is the path you have chosen." he spoke, knowing these were his last words, and wanting to give his son one more lasting impression. "Compared to yours, our pain will be over in an instant. Our philosophies may differ, but I am still proud of you my son. You are truly a kind child…"

Night Raid looked to Itachi in the scene, seeing his face covered in tears as he shook like a leaf, gritting his teeth. A few seconds later, Itachi cut down his own parents. Itachi stood panting, looking down at his now lifeless parents. He looked up as he heard the door open, seeing Sasuke enter. Itachi then put him under genjutsu, making him watch his parents die as Itachi fled. Itachi finished off the last of the clan and was about to leave when Sasuke called out to him asking him why he did what he did. Itachi looked to his brother, with evil in his eyes. "Foolish little brother, I wanted to test my abilities. You are not worth killing, so I spared you. If you wish to kill me one day, foster your hatred and despise me. Surviving in an unsightly manner such as this, by all means flee, cling to your wretched life, and when you have the same eyes I do," as he said this, his eyes formed into the mangekyo sharingan, "then come face me."

He again put Sasuke in the same genjutsu, knocking him out. Itachi turned and walked a few feet up when he turned around again. Night Raid noticed that when he turned around, tears were flowing down his eyes, realizing that he did all that to save his little brother.

Najenda was watched as the Uchiha walked out of the compound. She turned to the real Itachi who was still tied up, her face going into surprise. She noticed that, for the first time she saw, Itachi had tears running down his cheek. She looked to the ground and noticed that there were a puddle of tears that formed. She looked away from him, not being able to stand the sight.

The scenes then changed to Itachi talking to the Hokage, who apologized for having to make Itachi do what he did. He explained about how Itachi will now be a rogue ninja but keep tabs on the group he joined to protect the leaf. With that, Itachi left the leaf, slashing though the leaf symbol and making himself as a rouge ninja. The scenes changed multiple times, showing his life in the Akatsuki and the different missions he took on. They noticed that he wore the cloak that he normally wore with them, a long black cloak with red clouds on it. This lead to a scene where he was talking to a boy that had a striking resemblance to the target the other day, but with blond hair and blue eyes. " _Now I get why he reacted the way he did to that Naruto target. He looks almost exactly like the Naruto he knew!_ " Leone concluded.

"So, tell me this Naruto, if you see Sasuke as a brother, what will you do if he attacks the leaf?" Itachi asked Naruto.

The blond haired boy glared at Itachi, thinking his answer over. "I will find a way to protect the leaf AND bring Sasuke back alive!"

Itachi smirked at his answer as a crow flew at Naruto, flying into his mouth. This confused most of Night Raid as to why and how that was even possible. The scene then changed to his encounter with Sasuke at the hideout. Sasuke swore that he would get revenge on him for killing the clan, obviously not knowing the truth. With that, the fight began between the two Uchiha brothers, seemingly evenly matched. The fight ended up being taken outside due to the sheer power each had as black flames covered the area around the fight, not being extinguished or losing strength. Sasuke weaved some signs, summoning a bolt of lightning that struck Itachi. Just when everyone, including Night Raid, thought the fight was over, Itachi stood up. A red aura began to form around Itachi, forming into a being with four hands, holding a jar like contraption and a shield in two of its four arms. Sasuke then changed his form, turning into a demon-like being himself. Sasuke charged in trying to land a blow on Itachi to no avail.

Suddenly, Sasuke began to scream in pain as a giant seven-headed snake came out of his body growing to the size of a building. Itachi began to cut the heads off one by one with a blade that extended out of the jar like contraption. One of the snake's mouths opened up as a man with pale white skin and long black hair appeared in its mouth. Orochimaru, the name of the man in the snake, spoke to Itachi about how he was going to claim him. Just before he finished, Itachi stabbed him with the blade, earning a laugh from the snake-demon. Before he could realize it, he was being sucked in by the blade, along with the snake that formed with him. In a matter of seconds, the creature and man were both gone, sucked into the jar.

Itachi smiled at his work but was soon interrupted when he began to cough blood. Sasuke groggily got back up, returning to his normal self. Sasuke was in shock that Itachi was somehow still standing, watching as his brother inched closer and closer to him. Sasuke backed away, only to run into a wall with the Uchiha crest on it. Itachi now was an inch away, face showing no emotion as he extended towards his little brother with his bloody hand. Just before he touched Sasuke, Itachi stopped, looking his little brother in the face as his grim expression turned into a small smile. "I'm sorry Sasuke, but this is it." Itachi said softly.

Itachi then extended his hand outward. Sasuke thought he was really going to kill him when he felt his brother tap his forehead like he would do when they lived together. His hand slid down his face, leaving a streak of his blood as Itachi fell to the ground, dead. Akame realized now where Itachi got the "poking the forehead" habit from, realizing he did it even when he was a kid.

The scene later went white for a second, forming into a man who looked part snake sitting in a room with a few coffins. They each opened as a few ninja came out. Night Raid was surprised to see that Itachi was one of them, standing next to a white haired man with purple eyes that had circles around the pupil, later learning his name was Nagato. The scene then changed to when Naruto and Killer Bee fought Itachi and Nagato, realizing that Itachi and Nagato were being controlled by their summoner to fight their old comrade. They watched as the crow Itachi gave Naruto came out of the blonde's mouth, with its normal black eye on the right but a sharingan eye in the left. Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan, using it to activate the bird's sharingan to free him from the control. Naruto, along with Killer Bee, and Nagato were surprised to see that breaking the control was possible. Night Raid was still trying to wrap their heads around how Itachi was brought back to life and how fatal blows were not killing him, let alone him being free from the control. Itachi would help Naruto and Killer Bee beat Nagato, sealing him the same way that Itachi sealed Orochimaru.

After, Naruto told Itachi about how Sasuke wanted revenge against the hidden leaf. Itachi then commented that the crow Naruto had was a special crow because it had Shisui's eye. This was when most of the assassins realized that the eyes was what Shisui gave Itachi. The Uchiha explained to Killer Bee and Naruto that he had it set so that when his sharingan activated it would make Shisui's genjutsu go into effect, making whoever it caught immediately protect the leaf without realizing they were being controlled. He explained how Itachi knew Sasuke would take his eyes from his dead body to gain him the eternal mangekyo sharingan and that was how Shisui's genjutsu would activate.

After Naruto explained more about Sasuke, Itachi turned to the forest, explaining he was going to get the "reanimation jutsu", which Night Raid assumed was how Itachi was brought back to life, to be lifted to save everyone. "My brother is truly lucky to have a friend like you, Naruto. I leave him to you." With that, he dashed into the forest. They watched as Sasuke found Itachi and began to tail him, asking if Itachi was ordered to kill the clan. Itachi just ignored him as he approached the cave where the snake-like man, now learned to be called Kabuto, was located. Sasuke followed Itachi in, demanding answers from Kabuto about why Itachi was here. It was then that Sasuke learned that he resurrected Itachi to fight in the war so Kabuto would get Naruto, also explaining how he broke free. Kabuto tried to get Sasuke to join his side and kill Itachi and get revenge, but due to the fact Sasuke knew the truth he sided with his brother.

Itachi and Sasuke then began their assault on Kabuto, who was using snake skin to keep his eyes from looking into their eyes and falling prey to their genjutsu. The fight seemed to last forever as Kabuto tried again and again to convince Sasuke to join, saying that Itachi was a liar and not to be trusted. Sasuke never fell for it and continued to help his elder brother. The fight seemed like it was going nowhere when suddenly, Kabuto froze, as if he was encased in ice. Sasuke asked Itachi what he did, noticing left eye became bleach white, not matching his sharingan eye on the right. This is where Itachi explained about the Izanagi (and how it let him nullify any injury) and the Izanami (and how it sends the victim into an endless loop until they give up). Itachi explained that the Izanami was now making Kabuto relive the same scene in the fight over and over again, letting Itachi control him but at the cost of his sight in one eye. Itachi turned to Kabuto, making him tell the Uchiha the signs to reverse the reanimation jutsu. As Itachi began to say the signs and make Kabuto weave them, Sasuke was talking to Itachi about how he would not change his mind and still attack the leaf.

Finally, the last sign was weaved, releasing the jutsu. Itachi's form began to glow white, showing that his soul was going to leave soon. In his last moments, Night Raid watched as Itachi turned to his brother and finally explain the whole truth to him. "There is… nothing more to say. You now know the whole truth, and I will not have to tell you it ever again. I… always lied to you… and asked you to forgive me for putting you at arm's length… so you would be kept out of this. Maybe, if I looked you straight in the eyes all those years ago, maybe you could have stopped mother… father… and the Uchiha clan."

The emotions were too much for Sasuke to even speak as he starred in awe at his older brother. "If only I had come to you sooner… looked straight into your eyes, and spoke the truth… then I wouldn't be standing here a failure." Itachi spoke, his breath hitching. "But… I want to impart at least this truth to you…" He stopped, now standing before his brother, his right index and middle finger extended like they would be when he would flick Sasuke's head when they were kids. Before he could flick his head, Itachi reached for the back of Sasuke's head, drawing him forward a bit so that their foreheads met. Sasuke now looked his older brother in the eyes, knowing this was the last time he would see or even hear Itachi in this world. "You don't ever have to forgive me… and whatever you do from here on out know this… no matter what I will love you always."

Watching this final scene between two brothers sent Sheele, Mine, Tatsumi, Lubbock, and even Akame into tears as they watched Itachi's soul fly up to the sky, leaving the world Itachi called home. The vision became white again, but only for a few seconds as it changed to a forest with trees blowing in the wind. Night Raid watched as Itachi woke up extremely confused, running to a river that they now recognized as the river by their base. They watched as Itachi checked his eyes and chakra, looking to the west at the wall of the capital. Suddenly, the vision blurred, returning them back to the meeting room.

Itachi was still on his knees with his arms tied behind his back and Akame's sword to his neck. The other members other than Najenda (who already saw) finally noticed the dried tear streaks on his cheek. Itachi wiggled his head slightly, letting the headband fall and cover his eyes. "Now, you know the truth about my life. There is nothing more I have for you."

Everyone was dead quiet, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. The assassins were in too much shock to even think of what to say. Najenda was looking down at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes as she broke the silence. "Akame… back away and let him stand."

Akame hesitantly did as she was told. Everyone watched as Itachi rose slowly to a stand. Itachi heard her walk behind her chair and pick something up. Night Raid's eyes widened as they watched the scene before them. "Itachi Uchiha… I just have one thing to say…" She said, not giving an ounce of emotion to give an indication of whether she believed Itachi or not.

Itachi listened as she walked closer to him. She stopped a few inches before him as she drew the sword she picked up, now having it touch just under his chin. "You truly are a fucking asshole."

Itachi's eyes widened under his headband as a few gasps were made from the onlookers. " _She... doesn't believe me…_ "

Everyone else in Night Raid was pretty convinced that Itachi was not lying and that he was being honest. However, they knew whatever their boss said was the way it was. Najenda's bangs covered her eyes as she raised her sword in the air. Itachi her the sound of the blade rise, bowing his head and accepting his fate. Night Raid looked on, not wanting to believe that Najenda still thought he was lying, waiting for Najenda to kill the Uchiha. However, what happened next was something no one expected. She let go of the sword, letting it drop to the ground with a clang as she walked forward and hugged the Uchiha.

Itachi let out a gasp from how tight Najenda hugged him, feeling her tears stain his think cloak and shirt. "You idiot… you could have told us the truth. It was gruesome and terrible, but we would not have judged you… we would have accepted you because we knew you were a truly kind person…"

Najenda backed off a bit, untying him and raising his headband so Itachi could see. "Itachi Uchiha, on the counts of being a traitor and leaking information on Night Raid to the capital, I find you not guilty. I am so sorry I made you show us what you did. To show how sorry I am, if you want to leave we will not stop you or kill you. I trust that you will keep us a secret. You are all dismissed." She turned around and walked into her room as Night Raid watched her. The remaining assassins went to apologize to the Uchiha when they realized that while they watched their boss leave he vanished, going out the open window near the exit.

The rest of that night was spent in silence, feeling guilty for ever doubting their friend. Akame was aching the most, standing outside on the balcony like she did this morning. Leone joined her after a half hour to try to comfort her. "Well, at least we know he wasn't a spy, right?"

Akame just starred away, not wanting to talk. Leone rubbed her friend's back. "Look, I assume you feel that because you doubted him that he now will never like you. Well, my advice to you is you never know. I know he is hurting from reliving his past and I would go talk to him myself, but I feel you should do it. You two were very close, and this can be good to show him how you feel."

Akame did not move from her position. "How…"

Leone thought hard for a minute, with only one thing coming to her mind. "You just got to do it. I cannot explain it in any other way."

Akame turned to her friend, trying her best not to let her emotions get to her. "What if he already left?"

Leone smiled softly. "I know where he probably is right now…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi finally did it. Whether he wanted to or not, he told Night Raid the truth. At least he was alive, but having to relive the worst parts of his life over again only brought back the pain. He sat in front of the Uchiha memorial, trying to calm himself down, only to find he was in a whirlwind of emotions that he was fighting hard to keep down. Itachi picked up on someone walking up from behind him; knowing exactly who it was by their footsteps he kept his face looking forward. "Why are you here…"

Akame slowly approached Itachi, not knowing how or what to do but tried to go with the flow. "Look, I wanted to say I am sorry. When this first came up, I too wanted to believe you were innocent. Though I was convinced you were a traitor -"

"Well you see now that looks can be deceiving." Itachi said with a hint of hurt. Akame was a bit hurt but continued on. "I was hurt by people close to me before and I did not want it to happen again which is why I believed it… but I realize I was wrong. I came here to ask you to please not leave."

"And why shouldn't I? Because you all believe me and trust me? How do I know I won't be killed in my sleep?"

"Because I trust you! I believe you! Ever since you joined Night Raid, you were my friend and I believed you. Every time you went on a mission I hoped you would come back alive. I always do that with everyone at Night Raid but with you it was different… I…"

Akame began to stutter a bit, being on the verge of tears. She was waiting to see if Itachi would rebuttle her, but he made no noise. "I guess it was different b… because I fell for you Itachi."

Itachi's eyes widened a bit at hearing her say that, not expecting her to have any feelings like that toward him. "I like you a lot Itachi, and if you left I would be devastated. I have lost many close people to me but I was able to move on. However, you understand my situation a bit better than anyone else. You had a sibling that wanted to kill you, you get the pain that it makes you feel and the sadness it brings, knowing the one thing you love wants to see you dead. When we talked, I felt better every time after because I knew you understood. If you left I don't know what I would do with myself. So… So please don-"

Akame was cut off from her uncharacteristic-like speech as she watched Itachi get up and walk to her. She couldn't move from her position, not knowing what he was going to do. Itachi extended his right arm out, making Akame think he was going to poke her forehead and say something like 'Sorry, but I don't believe you' to get back at her. She was on the verge of tears when she watched his arm go past her head. Itachi wrapped his arm around her and embraced her in a hug that Akame never felt before. It felt sad, but there was a warmth behind it, she could feel it. She stood there wide-eyed, not expecting him to do what he did. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him back a bit before they made space between each other. Itachi turned back to the memorial. "I will have a decision later tonight. For now, go back to base. I promise I will go back and give my answer."

Akame just sadly nodded and walked back. Itachi sat at the memorial, trying to absorb what just happened. He sighed, feeling the strain of the day finally hitting him like a freight train. After an hour or so, he got up and made his way back to the base. As he walked around the halls, he smelt something… familiar. He followed the smell and entered the dining hall, findin Night Raid setting the table with eight settings. Itachi watched a bit as they franticly made sure everything was perfect. Sheele looked up from setting the last fork, finally noticing the Uchiha. "I-Itachi!"

All of Night Raid turned to him, starring a bit in surprise with a hint of pity. Itachi looked around and then to the assassins. "What is all this?"

After a few seconds of pausing, Tatsumi spoke up. "Well, Akame remembered that this, I think it is called onigiri, was something you ate from you world… so we decided, as a small way to apologize, we would help her make some and have you eat it. We will do other things besides this but we hoped you would at least try it."

Itachi looked to the assassins, studying their reactions to see if there was some truth. Itachi then walked around to a seat and sat down. He bowed his head, a tradition that the Uchiha would do before eating this meal, and picked up his chopsticks. He poked at the meal before him, seeing that it kept its shape. After a bit of time, he picked it up and took a bite. All eyes were on him as he chewed, waiting for his response. When he finally swallowed, he looked down at the onigiri. "Next time, boil the water for another second, have the rice cook in it for about 2.3 seconds, use a more circular mold to make sure that it is all even, and have it cool for 1.8 seconds less."

Everyone looked very defeated. They tried their best to make it exactly the way they saw it in his memory, hoping that if he liked it he would stay. Akame took it the worse, since she was the one that made them. Before they truly accepted defeat, Itachi spoke up. "However, even with that, this tastes exactly like the ones I ate when I was little." He smiled and looked up to them. "I suggest you have them before they become ruined."

With big smiles on everyone's face, they dug in. This was their first time even having onigiri, so every bite they took they savored. It was REALLY good! Everyone was in a lighter mood as they meal continued. After a while, everyone finished eating and talked amongst themselves about the meal. Najenda was a bit quiet, keeping to herself. After a few minutes, she got up and spoke, getting everyone's attention. "So, have you made a decision?"

Itachi's small smile turned to an expressionless face. He got up, looking out the nearby window. "There was a reason I did not want to reveal my life to you." He began, keeping an emotionless tone. "Besides the fact that I feel you would brand me as a traitor, which I was glad I was proven wrong, but it is very hard to think about. I accepted the mission but it was the worst thing I have ever done. It is something I would never wish on an enemy."

He walked over to a counter where a picture of Night Raid stood, which included Tatsumi but not Itachi. "No matter what is said, I was marked at a psychotic killer and branded a traitor to be killed on sight. That feeling made the guilt worse, and you all who were supposed to be my friends, did the same as them."

As he spoke, more and more of Night Raid got the gist of where this was going. Slowly, each of them lowered their head in shame and sadness. Itachi picked up the photo and looked at it. "However, no matter what people thought of me… to those who knew the truth and to myself, I was always Itachi Uchiha of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. That will never change. Not now or ever."

At this point, Night Raid saw this as Itachi saying he would be leaving. Akame began to tear up as Leone hugged her, looking upset herself. "However," Itachi said, making everyone look back to him.

Itachi set down the picture back on the counter. He took off his headband and set it next to the picture, turning back to the assassins. "I would like to be able to say that I am… also… Itachi Uchiha of Night Raid."

With the last word leaving his lips, all the depressed looked changed to happiness. Najenda couldn't help but smile. "Then, I guess it is settled."

Tatsumi and Lubbock immediately jumped at their friend, squeezing him in a tight hug as Night Raid began to celebrate. This would go on into the wee hours of the night. Towards the end, Itachi tapped on Akame's shoulder. "Can I speak to you?" He asked.

Akame nodded and followed him outside. The quiet filled the starry night sky as Akame waited to hear what Itachi had to say. "So, were you speaking the truth?"

Akame was a bit confused at the question. "About…"

"You having feelings for me. Or were you saying that to get me to stay…"

Akame's face grew a shade of light pink, looking away into the forest. "I… I was being truthful."

Itachi, looked up to the full moon with a soft smile. "I only had one girlfriend from my home world… and I was not too good at the whole relationship thing, so I never really thought about dating ever since."

Akame looked a bit saddened but understood where he was coming from. She went to turn and walk back in when she felt his hand touch her shoulder. "Though, if you are truly willing to give me a chance, I can try it again. Why don't we go on a date tomorrow?"

Akame's face lit up, hugging Itachi. "I would like that."

Itachi smiled and hugged her back. "Good, well we should go get some sleep, goodnight." He then left her outside. Akame was too surprised that he was ok with them dating to move at the moment.

Itachi heard the guys in a few rooms down from his bedroom, so he walked in to say hi. "Uh, I might need your help with something tomorrow." He commented.

Bulat looked to Itachi with a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Itachi looked to his guy friends, a small smile appearing on his face.

At the same time, Akame went back to the dining hall where all the girls were still talking. Najenda greeted Akame. "So, where were you?!"

"Outside talking to Itachi." Akame said emotionlessly.

"What did he say to you?" Sheele asked her.

Akame looked down at the ground, not giving an asnwer. Mine gave a confused look along with the others. It was Leone who finally put two and two toghether. "Akame… did he…"

Akame looked up to Leone, letting a slight blush and a smile grace her face. Leone picked up Akame and spun her around. "YAY! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"

Mine was still confused as hell. "What happened?!"

Leone turned to Mine, with a huge grin on her face. "Uchiha finally grew a pair and is taking Akame out on a date!"

 **End of the chapter. I have to say this definitely was a great chapter for me to write. I know there are a lot of emotions here (and I have a feeling people will hate me for making me have Itachi have feelings) but I mean he was always emotional when the topic of the clan massacre was discussed. They even had in in the fillers, that showed Itachi's life, him falling to his knees and weeping over the loss. Plus, in Itachi Shinden it was confirmed he had a girlfriend, meaning that the "emotionless" Uchiha DID HAVE FEELINGS! So, he has feelings here. Also, I wanted to get more descriptive in Itachi's life but I felt that it would droan out after a while so I kept it a little short. I really loved how these came out. If you don't then fine, but I hope you do. And also… don't crucify me for the pairing… Thanks for reading and Please review and follow/favorite! See you next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

**About time I came back to this! Sorry for the wait. I ended up getting distracted with other things, ex.: Christmas, New Years, college things, etc. Now that it is the summer I hope to continue writing these fanfics. As another way of saying sorry, I shall have another chapter of "A Chance to Start Over" added in addition to a NEW fanfic I literally just came up with. Anyways here is the next chapter!**

 **Chapter 8:**

Itachi was walking around the town, a million and a half thoughts flying through his head. The events of the other day were a decent contribution to these thoughts, but the events of what will happened today also plagued his mind.

 _Flashback_

"Uh, I might need your help with something tomorrow." Itachi spoke to Tatsumi, Bulat, and Lubbock.

Bulat looked to Itachi with a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Itachi looked to his guy friends, a small smile appearing on his face. Tatsumi looked intrigued at the former rouge shinobi. "Itachi… what happened?"

Itachi proceeded to tell them about his conversations with Akame, from the time he left the hideout after he was cleared to the small chat outside during the party. Lubbock patted Itachi on the back. "Way to go man. Nice pick!"

"Yea, congrats." Tatsumi added. "So, what will you need help with?"

Itachi looked to the guys in the room. "Well, I never was really on a date before, so I am not sure what to do. I also am not sure what we should do. We know each other personally, but the small things like favorite foods and activities… I am afraid I will mess those up."

Bulat smirked. "So, the great ninja does have a fear: a fear of dates."

This earned a small laugh from Tatsumi and Lubbock, was instantly quieted by Itachi's glare. "Well, it's obvious that she loves meat, so anything around there will be fine. As for what to do, I think anything you two will do together will be fine." Bulat advised Itachi. "The thing you need to do is not stress out, and make sure you dress up nice. I would say a semi-fancy shirt and pants."

Itachi nodded. "I understand."

Tatsumi now chimed in. "Also, don't be all quiet like you usually are. Talk to her, show her you can open up to her. If you just stay silent mostly she might feel you are just trusting her as a friend."

"I would even say a picnic on the beach would be a good idea, especially with the bik-"

Tatsumi punched him before he could finish. "Not time for that!"

Bulat put a hand to his chin. "No no, that might actually be a good idea. I would say have a picnic on the beach."

 _End of Flashback_

Itachi that morning left a note under Akame's door to tell her what they were doing today so that she would at least not be left in the dark. He spent all morning trying to find the nice clothes he planned on wearing, the meal to cook, and a decent bathing suit. He finally found a small store with a nice black shirt in the window that fit his style. It was a plain black polo with red stripes, perfect for him. He walked in and looked around for a bit to see if there was anything else he might like. After a few minutes of searching, he found a black bathing suit that looked like it could be nice shorts and matched the shirt he was interested in. With his mind made up, he bought the bathing suit and the polo, but asked if they could sow on the Uchiha logo on the back, which they did for extra. He changed into them in the changing room and walked out.

He noticed it was a bit livelier in the capital than normal. He was about to ask why when he noticed something on the wall near the shop he was just in. It was a new wanted poster, with the picture of someone in the form of a shadow with red eyes that read "Wanted Dead or Alive, Demon-Eyes, Night Raid." There was only one person that could be. _"So, they have already made a wanted poster for me, huh."_ The Uchiha thought. The good news was at least they did not have his features documented. He could just easily hide his sharingan and not be detected. His mind wondered to how he could have been found out when suddenly he bumped into someone.

The woman fell down from the unexpected blockage in the road. The five guards that were with her immediately pointed their swords to Itachi when the woman waived them off. "Do, you realize what you just did?" The woman asked coldly.

Itachi studied her for a second, she had long blue hair and was wearing a similar uniform that the capital guards wore, meaning she was someone from the capital. He felt something odd about her: a dark feeling surrounded her that sent his senses into "defense". "I am sorry miss, I was lost in thought and did not see you there." He offered a hand to help her up.

The woman looked at the man in front of her, realizing that he did not recognize her, meaning he must be a foreigner. If it was not for the fact she had other things on her mind, she would have this idiot arrested. She took his hand and stood up. "I see you must be new here. You better be careful, next time you could get arrested."

Itachi nodded, not wanting to cause a fight. "I realize that now, I am deeply sorry madam." He said politely.

This woman was truly interested in the man before her. She knew he could sense how dangerous she was, but yet he did not show an ounce of fear. "You hold yourself up like a soldier, not showing any fear. Even with 5 swords pointed at you. Any normal person would have nearly crapped themselves."

"Well, I do not scare easily. I see you must be from the government, are you not?" Itachi asked, trying to sound like he was indeed new to the area. "May I ask for your name?"

The blue-haired woman smirked. "My name is General Esdeath, traveler."

Itachi looked over the woman carefully, keeping his semi-shocked reaction hidden. _"So, this is the general Najenda warned about. So she is back, and probably looking for us."_ He thought. "Itachi, it is an honor to meet you." Itachi answered the general.

She smirked at him and walked away. "Next time, watch where you are going. I will not be as nice next time." Her 5 guards followed her as she left the shinobi.

Itachi immediately went back to the base, realizing he had to report on what happened. He also took one of the new wanted posters with him to bring back. Leone greeted him with her usual clinging to his arm. "Hey cutieeeee. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on your date?"

Itachi was not amuzed. "No, that is later. I need to speak to her."

Leone looked a bit confused. "To Akame?"

"No, to Najenda. It is important."

Leone nodded and let go, seeing something was bothering him. "Ok, but you better not ditch your date!"

Itachi looked to her and gave his signature "hn", vanishing before her eyes.

Najenda was reading some reports when the Uchiha appeared before her. "Itachi, why are y-"

"I have something to report. You need to hear this."

Najenda set her files down. "Ok, what is wrong? Seems like something bad happened."

Itachi held out the wanted poster. "This has been posted today. You can take a guess at who it is."

Najenda looked over the parchment. "I see, so they know about you but have not put you to the identity of this 'Demon-Eyes'. At least you can hide your eyes." Najenda looked to the shinobi. "I know this is not what is bothering you. Something else happened."

Itachi nodded, looking into the boss's eyes. "Najenda, Esdeath has made it back to the capital."

Najenda went pale-faced. "No way, she was in the North. She already quieted the rebellion?"

"I assume so, I accidentally bumped into her, litterally."

Najenda shook her head. "This is not good, I will have to talk to everyone about this later. For now, we leave it. Plus, you have something to do today."

Itachi looked to her. "There is a job for me?"

Najenda laughed. "No, I made sure to leave you out of the work today. You have something else, the reasoning behind your new clothes. I have to say, you look pretty good."

Itachi shook his head, smiling a bit. "Leone mentioned it as well, I assume that she told all of you as well?"

Najenda shrugged. "Leone figured it out. Akame did not say anything. Besides, you told the boys so what is the harm of the girls knowing?"

Itachi smiled a bit. "Next time, remind me not to tell them anything."

Najenda laughed. "They mean well. They even set up a picnic at the beach where you two are going, with the girls help of course."

Itachi sighed. "They can't just leave it alone, can't they?"

"Well, you are both their friends. They just want to make sure you both enjoy your day today."

Itachi nodded. "I know." With that he left to get ready.

XXXXXXXXXX

Itachi stood at the entrance of the base, holding the picnic basket and blanket, some food and cooking material, and towels for them to use. His stomach felt a bit uneasy, which caught him quite off guard since he hadn't felt like this since that night. _"I guess Bulat is right, I do have a fear of dates."_ He laughed to himself.

He heard a noise coming from behind him and turned to see Akame. She was wearing a red beach dress with black stripes. Her hair was worn the way it normally was, which was fine. He also noticed that she was carrying Murasame in her other hand. Akame noticed Itachi looking at her cursed blade. "We will be out in the open; even though we should have fun, we should be on guard in case of something happening."

Itachi nodded and showed her the set of kunai in his pockets, showing he had the same idea. With that they both set out for the beach. The walk was quite peaceful, since it was a clear sky with no wind keeping everything still. Itachi remembered the talk from last night and decided to try to strike up some conversation. "So, how long have you been in the capital for?"

Akame looked to Itachi. "Ever since I can remember. My parents gave my sister and I to the government where we were trained to be assassins. It was around the age of 10 where we were put into groups and given missions. Kurome and I were split into different groups, I assume that was done on purpose. After a while I saw how bad the capital was. It was around then that Najenda came to me with the proposition to join Night Raid. I accepted and tried to get Kurome to join as well, but she refused. It was that same day she said she would try to kill me the next time we saw each other."

Itachi looked down the path. "I see, so ever since you were young you were an assassin. I can see why you are quite skilled."

Akame nodded. "Well, it is similar to the ninja from where you are from. They were sent and trained to be ninja at a young age and then put into groups. What was it like?"

"It was similar to a schooling set-up. We had books to read, ninjutsu to know, and had sparring periods as well. When you graduated the academy at eleven you became a genin and put into a group of other genin with a jounin as the leader. After a while of being a genin you partake in the chunin exams. This is where everything you learned is put to the test, from survival tactics to jutsu you can perform. Your score is determined by if you make it through the first two tests followed by how well you do in their sparring fights, which can be to the death. If you do well enough you become a chunin. At this stage, you can become a teacher and help train the next generation or still take on missions. After a while of missions you can take the test to be a jounin. They are some of the best ninja in the village, usually used for higher ranking missions and soldiers for if war breaks out."

"If I remember correctly, you became an ANBU Black Ops ninja. Where is that in this rank system?"

Itachi looked to Akame. "You could say they are the best of the best. They are ninja that are considered prodigy and used in assassinations and covert ops. They fight from the shadows and only take orders from the Hokage himself. The Hokage is the leader of the village that is the best ninja the village has to offer."

Akame nodded. "So, when you said you helped protect the leader of the village, that was true but not in the way we thought."

The Uchiha smiled as they finally approached the beach. They looked around and noticed no one was there to bother them. They both sighed in relief, then looked at each other and laughed at what just happened as they set their weapons down. Itachi then set up the picnic, setting the blanket down and placing the basket on it. He went back into the woods from where they came from and got some sticks. Akame set up the plates and utencils as Itachi came back. He made a small fire pit and with a fire jutsu set it on fire.

Akame went to look into the basket to see what was in it when Itachi snagged it away. "What are we making?" She asked curiously.

Itachi smirked. "I am making a meat dish. You are going to relax."

This earned a puzzled look from Akame. "I can help too you know."

"Yes I do, however I am taking you out on a date, therefore I will cook for you. Plus, you do this for not just me but everyone of Night Raid. Even though being in Night Raid or the ANBU makes you always are and focused, one should still learn to relax. It keeps you rejuvenated, and also feels good every so often."

Akame looked to Itachi and then hesitantly nodded as she laid out her beach towel. She laid on it and took a bit of a nap as the Uchiha slaved away in his primitive fire pit. After a while, Itachi called to Akame that the meal was ready. She looked over and saw the meal was very well decorated, with meat and veggies perfectly placed on the plate and the sauce eloquently drizzled on in a meticulous manner. She cut into it and took a bite, making her eyes open in shock. "Itachi, I knew you could cook but this is amazing!"

Itachi sighed in relief. "Well, according to my brother when I cooked for him, I was too much of a perfectionist. Hence why I said the times that I did back when you made the onigiri."

Akame looked to him. "And you got all that from one taste?"

Itachi nodded. "Like I said it still came out amazing, just do what I said and it will be perfect."

They chowed down for a bit when they slowly noticed a few birds flying around them. They were not going near them but the cawing was driving them both nuts. Before the shinobi could get up to move, he noticed a dagger hit one of the birds square between the eyes, killing it instantly and sending the others away. He looked to Akame and noticed she took a kunai and threw it at the bird. "Not to be rude, but since when did you know how to throw them?"

Akame smiled. "I had Lubbock show me a bit before the mission where Sheele got hurt."

Itachi nodded. "I have to admit, I am impressed."

Akame nodded in thanks when suddenly they heard rustling behind them in the bushes. About 20 guards appeared from the forest behind them, charging in with weapons in hand. Itachi looked to Akame who immediately grabbed her cursed blade as they both charged into the group of soldiers. Itachi threw a couple kunai into the soldiers, landing instant kills on each of the throws. He spun to dodge an incoming swipe of a blade, cutting down the attacker. Akame also followed in behind Itachi, making sure not to get near him in case she cut him. She proceed to cut down the onslaught of soldiers one by one until all the soldiers that were around her were dead.

Akame quickly turned to Itachi, who also laid waste to the enemy that dared tried to attack them. Itachi looked around, his sharingan blaring. "There are no more soldiers nearby. I think now would be the best time to leave, in case more decide to show."

Akame nodded and helped Itachi clean up, swinging her sword in the air to get the blood of her sword as she sheathed it. In a matter of minutes, they had everything packed and began to walk through the forest back to the hideout. They walked in a bit of silence until Itachi finally spoke up. "So, other than the extra guests, how did you like today."

Akame gave no second thought on her answer. "It was a good time. The meal was great and getting some time with you was indeed enjoyable." She smiled and took Itachi's free hand in hers. "However, we did not get to swim while at the beach. Maybe we can go again some time?"

Itachi looked to Akame and smiled. "That sounds like a great idea." After walking a bit more it began to pour, prompting the two to make haste in returning to the base. After about a half hour or so, they finally returned to the base, but not to what they expected. Just outside the building stood all of Night Raid, gloomy faces worn by all as Tatsumi was on the ground yelling in anger and saddess.

Itachi quickly set the belongings down and went to the group. "What happened?" He asked a bit worried but not showing it.

Akame also arrived and asked the same question. The rest of the group all just stood there, starring at the ground. The only one to break the silence was Tatsumi.

"Bulat… he… he's dead…"

 **And here we are. Finally a new chapter! I know this is a bit shorter than expected but I am at least happy I was able to get it out. This was just to serve as a bit of a break in between what happens in Akame Ga Kill. Hope you all are not too mad with me being super late on posting. Please review if you want to. See you all around.**


End file.
